


Why Don’t You Just Quit?

by aixmarie



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Fights, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-19 18:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16539437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aixmarie/pseuds/aixmarie
Summary: Lee Dokyeom is very much in love with his best friend, Yoon Jeonghan. But life must hate him so much, since his best friend is currently eyeing his mortal enemy, Kim Mingyu.





	1. Intro: The Fight

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! There will be a few chapters for this fic, and each chapter will only have a little less than a thousand words. I would love to read your comments to know how I could improve. This is my first time writing something so please do not be harsh. Huhu I also don't proof read my chapters, I am sorry I don't think I have the energy to do that.
> 
> I am unsure if this will be the only fic I would write tho. We never know. But for now this is what I have. Hope you enjoy!

Lights were dimmed.

The crowd was cheering. It was deafening but he loves it. This is what makes his blood pump faster. The excitement. The anticipation. He doesn’t feel nervous at all.

Though tonight might be one of those nights that everyone in the campus have been anticipating for weeks. In this abandoned building’s parking lot, the star fighter of their university, stage name DK versus the star player of the rival university, Mingyu.

DK patiently waits in his corner while someone makes some announcements about the betting system. This kind of underground fights are handled by the gutsy seniors who sneakily organize these fights.

Ten minutes till it starts. Jeonghan might be somewhere in the crowd right now, probably front row as he always makes sure he can see Dokyeom very well. It’s his motivation though, seeing Jeonghan cheer, get excited, get worried. It definitely makes him work harder, fight better.

The lights got dimmer and he hears the announcement for the arrival of Kim Mingyu. It was too loud to hear the music. This guy definitely is famous. Tall, tanned and handsome. But Dokyeom doesn’t mind any of that. He’s not bad himself. Tall, sharp features, a smile that can brighten anyone’s day. It was soon his turn to enter the ring. The crowd goes wild. And he spots Jeonghan right away, in his pink oversized sweater, cheering for him with that silly handmade banner he made.

The fight starts with the sound of a horn. It’s not his first time fighting Kim Mingyu. He knows it’s best to wait for the other to do the first move. This guy is impatient, he will want to get it over with, so DK holds his defense. As Mingyu moves to give him a punch to his left, Dokyeom quickly moves his head to avoid the hit. This seems to piss Mingyu off and he delivers another to his right but misses, giving DK the opportunity to hit him instead. The crowd roars with mixed cheers and boos. _'This should be easy.'_ , DK thought. He lets Mingyu take offense majority of the fight, only hitting back when he finds an opportunity and it always takes his opponent by surprise.

Fourth round, Mingyu is almost drained of his energy and DK finds his perfect opportunity to take offense this time. He delivers a punch to Mingyu’s right, but Mingyu was able to avoid it, though staggering backwards and almost lost his balance. He can hear Jeonghan shouting through the crowd “This is it! Go for it! Go for it!”. DK didn’t miss a beat when he delivers a kick to Mingyu’s right, making the other fall. He traps the guy between his legs and delivered one, two, three punches to his face. He hears the horn after a few more punches and was pulled to the middle of the ring being declared the winner.

The crowd went crazier. As he turned to look for his best friend, he sees Kim Mingyu picking the banner that has his name, handing it over to Jeonghan, smiling. Though his handsome features were bloodied and bruised, he can see Jeonghan gaping at the man. Grinning, Mingyu walks away but mumbles something probably no one was able to hear.

Jeonghan seems to space out for a while, but beams at Dokyeom when he notices the guy looking at him. He runs to the middle of the ring, high-fiving Dokyeom.

“Aaahhhh you were amazing! I knew you would win tonight! I knew it!”

Dokyeom sighs, “He was good. I thought I would lose for a moment there.”

“Nah I was so confident in you, I even put a 100$ bet.” Jeonghan waves his now 200$ in front of Dokyeom.

“No, you didn’t.” he gasps in mock disbelief. “What a relief! Else you won’t stop annoying me for about a month for losing 100$ because of me.”

Jeonghan hits Dokyeom’s arm playfully, eyes dangerous. “What did you--. Yah! I-I’m annoying?” Dokyeom runs to the makeshift lockers, away from Jeonghan. “Yaaaah! Come here Lee Dokyeom! I will hit you harder than that Kim Mingyu did to you! Lee Dokyeom!”  



	2. Saturdays

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I would love to read your comments to know how I could improve. This is my first time writing something so please do not be harsh. Huhu I also don't proof read my chapters, I am sorry I don't think I have the energy to do that.
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading!

One thing Jeonghan loves about not staying in a school dorm is that he can meet new people. He lives in a three bedroom house with three other people. He occupies one room to himself but shares a bathroom with another guy named Minghao who is not from his school. Minghao is a transfer student from China and he doesn’t talk much. The larger room with ensuite bathroom is occupied by younger best friends named Vernon and Seungkwan.

He likes living here, it’s fun yet peaceful. They’ve been living together for a few months now. Everyone keeps the common areas clean, respects each others’ personal spaces and keeps the fridge filled. Occasionally, his housemates would bring friends over, just like him.

He hears Minghao answer the door, greeting Dokyeom. It’s 9:00AM; Dokyeom usually comes around this time of the weekend to study with him. He opens the door to his room and thanks Minghao for letting Dokyeom in. He smiles at Jeonghan and continues watching a documentary about photography on the television in the living room.

“Good morning, Han. You look stressed.”

“Wow, good morning to you too. Thanks for pointing that out.”

Dokyeom smiles so bright, Jeonghan thought he swallowed the sun this morning.

“Sorry Han. Is your project done? I can help you out with that if you need me to.”

“Thanks Kyeom. I am almost done with it, thus my stress.” Jeonghan motions to his face.

“Aww it’s okay. It’s the holidays soon. We’ll be able to take a long break before another stressful semester starts.”

Dokyeom sits on Jeonghan’s desk chair, making himself at home like he always does, while Jeonghan takes a seat on his bed. Notebooks and books opened, laptop on one side. Dokyeom pulls out his laptop and places it on Jeonghan’s desk.

“Han, I’ll be having another fight on Wednesday night. Will you be free to come with me?” Dokyeom says as he types in his password.

“Again? I thought you won’t have another one till next month?”

“I know, but it’s against that Mingyu guy. Apparently he wants a rematch.”

Han pauses for a moment, thinking about that tall, tanned and handsome man who handed him his Dokyeom banner. He hadn’t expected that guy to smirk at him, bloodied face and all, especially when he’s holding the opponent’s banner. _'Oh how gutsy.'_ he thought. But he couldn’t deny the fact that he gaped at the guy.

“Earth to Hannie.” Dokyeom waves his hand in front of his face. “It’s okay if you have something though. I know it’s kinda last minute.”

Jeonghan shakes his head. “No, no. I am free. Ofcourse I am free. Did I ever miss any of your fights?”

“Thanks Han. You’re the best.” Dokyeom smiles like the sun again. He’s glad Dokyeom is his best friend. He’s glad he tripped and fell face first on the floor on one of those hectic days in school with Dokyeom scrambling to his feet to help him get up. He remembers the smile he gave Jeonghan that day, it’s the same as now. Like the sun shines from within him. Unlike that flirty smirk that he all of a sudden pictured just now. _'What is wrong with you Jeonghan?'._

“What is wrong Hannie?” Dokyeom frowns.

“Aa-aah nothing. I just.. I just wondered why you said yes.”

Confused, Dokyeom asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you just had the match two weeks ago. You need time to recover.”

“Han, I wasn’t hurt during that fight. If you remember, I won.”

“I know, I know. But it’s a weekday this time. And you have projects and exams to study for. And hella lot of homeworks because of the holidays approaching. Why don’t you skip it?”

“Han, did I ever say no to a fight?”

Jeonghan frowns. It’s true, his best friend never said no to any invitations to fight. And he knows it’s not about the money. This is what he wants to do. This is how he finds acceptance, contentment and satisfaction in this stressful university life. And what else can he do but support his best friend?

Jeonghan sighs in defeat and turns to his notes to continue studying. “Just make sure you won’t get yourself hurt, okay?”

Dokyeom smiles. “I promise I won’t, Han.”

•*****•

Mingyu gets off his motorcycle, parking in front of his brother’s apartment. He stays with him to save a little money for college. His brother’s lifestyle is good; works full time, owns an apartment (luckily, near his university), has a girlfriend who also works full time. While Mingyu on the other hand is barely surviving. They don’t have parents anymore, that’s why it wasn’t easy for them to get where they are right now. Though his brother tries to help him out with expenses, it still isn’t enough.

Aside from going to underground fights, he works part time at a bookstore. How ironic must it look like. The mad dog Mingyu, underground fighter, works as a sales assistant at a bookstore, talking about soft romantic novels to interested customers who ask him about the books, or sometimes about why he has a purple bruise on his left cheek.

He doesn’t care about winning to be honest. He’s here for the money. Win or lose, he is guaranteed 500$ every fight and that’s enough for him to make it through two weeks. But not this time. His mind wanders off for a moment, making him take his phone from his back pocket and type in a text message to Seungcheol.

**_“Man, how about a rematch Wednesday night?”_ ** he taps the paper plane icon. 

It only took one minute for Seungcheol to reply.

**_“Woah man, you sure? Easy money, people will go crazy.”_ **

**_“Isn’t that good for you then?”_ **

**_“Yeah, but are you sure? You never asked for a rematch. Ever.”_ **

__

_**“I’m sure.”** _

He waits for a reply that came five minutes later with just one word. **_“Done.”_**

The fight is scheduled. He will see him again. Probably holding his opponent’s banner. Probably shouting for Lee Dokyeom to finish him off. _“I’ll make you my lucky charm instead.”_ he remembers mumbling that after walking away from him two weeks ago.

If this fight is another chance for him to see that angelic face again, why not? Besides, another 500$ won’t hurt his pocket. And maybe this time he’ll win. Ah what’s even better, if he does win, maybe that angel will hold his banner instead next time. He smiles at this thought. _'What’s his name though?'_ He makes a mental note to ask him that on Wednesday, whatever happens. He is going to win that match. That way he can give him a better smile and finally a good introduction and his number.

“Stop that. Your smile creeps me out. What’s up?” Jisoo says as he turns his head to continue peeling apples.

Mingyu frowns at his brother. “Nothing. Do you have food, hyung? I am hungry.” 

Jisoo rolls his eyes. “When are you not? There’s food in the fridge. Heat some and eat. Don’t worry about leaving some for me. I’m going out for dinner anyway.”

Mingyu beams at his brother, bouncing his way to the fridge to get some food. 

Jisoo turns to face him. “Stop with the fights already, Gyu. I’m worried about you.”

“Hyung, I am fine. Besides, it’s easy money. I need it, you know that.”

“I know you do. I told you, I can get you a job at that Chinese restaurant my friend owns.”, he goes back to slicing apples.

“Hyung, you know that working schedule doesn’t go well with my uni schedule.”

“I’m sure I can ask Jun to work something out.”

Mingyu sits on the bar stool facing his brother. “I am telling you, I’m fine hyung. It’s just bruises, it heals. See, it’s almost gone.” Mingyu points at his left cheek.

“I’m not having any of this shit again Gyu. The next time you come home with a fucking cut on your lip, I will add few more bruises on your face and throw you out of here.”

“Hyung.. Hyung you don’t mean that. You’re not serious.”

Jisoo walks away with his bowl of apples in one hand, another hand pointing a finger at Mingyu. “I am serious.”

“Hyung…” Mingyu sighs. He sure is done.

•*****•

Dokyeom was getting ready to go to Jeonghan’s apartment. Shoving his laptop and books in his backpack. His phone beeps and Seungcheol’s name pops up. _'A message from Cheol this early? So unusual.'_

**_“Man, you up for a match on Wednesday?”_ **

**_“Wednesday? Who am I up against?”_** he taps 'SEND'. 

**_“It’s a rematch.”_ **

Another message comes right after. **_“Kim Mingyu.”_**

_'Oh wow. A rematch? This guy never asked for a rematch. Though he was the best fighter from the other school, he sure never cared about winning or losing. That’s what I heard from the people who handles the fights. But considering how good he is, he almost always wins. Except against me though.'_

**_“That’s unexpected. But sure, why not.”_ **

Seungcheol replies a few minutes later. **_“Done.”_**

Dokyeom pockets his phone and starts his way out the door.

Saturdays are his favorite. He would always walk to Jeonghan’s early in the morning, bring his stuff over, and stay the whole day till dinner. He barely studies though, barely focuses on his homeworks. He loves watching Jeonghan furrow his eyebrows over a complicated equation or a difficult science term. He loves watching him bite his pen while reading paragraphs over and over again. He loves seeing his eyes light up whenever there’s something he finally understands after going over it a hundred times.

He finally arrives and knocks. The door opens, Minghao gives him a smile and steps aside to let him in. “Good morning man.” Minghao greets him, fist out for a bump.

“Hey, thanks Hao.” he bumps his fist against Hao’s as he hears Jeonghan coming down the steps to thank Minghao.

He starts pulling out his stuff from his bag and setting them on Jeonghan’s desk before asking him if he’s free on Wednesday night. Jeonghan spaces out for a while and Dokyeom wonders why.

“Earth to Hannie.” he waves his hand in front of Jeonghan’s face. “It’s okay if you have something though. I know it’s kinda last minute.”

Though he prays that Jeonghan is free. He never misses any of his fights, he kinda needs him there. Especially this one, since it’s a rematch and he doesn’t know why Kim Mingyu asked for one. It kinda makes him a little nervous. Finally, Jeonghan agrees to go with him on Wednesday though he asks why he agreed on it. He’s confused. Jeonghan knows he never says no to any fights. But he dismisses it as Jeonghan expresses his concern about him getting hurt. He starts going over the powerpoint his classmate, Soonyoung, thoughtfully sent to him.

He smiles though, hoping Jeonghan won’t see it. He smiles at the thought that Jeonghan was concerned. _'Silly, of course he is. He is your best friend after all.'_ Dokyeom frowns again.

_'Best friend.'_ The word sounds nice. But he hopes he’s more than just the best friend. He clearly remembers the day he first met Jeonghan.

_The poor guy tripped and fell, his books scattered on the ground. He stood up so fast to help him out. He smiles at him and he smiles back, one hand fixing his ponytail. He has long hair, Dokyeom just noticed. And he’s really pretty. Wow he never thought he would call a guy pretty, but he really was._

_“Hi, my name’s Dokyeom. Are you alright?”_

_“Hi, Jeonghan.” He holds his hand out to shake. “I am alright. Thanks for helping me.”_

_"No worries. Are you on your way to class?”_

_“Yeah, I was running late so I was in a hurry. But I guess I missed my class now." Jeonghan sighs. "Of all times I could trip, it was today at the exact minute I was in a hurry!"_

_“Ah I’m sorry about that." Dokyeom gives an awkward smile. "Well, I hope you enjoy your free period then.” Dokyeom hands him a few of his books._

_“Thanks.” Jeonghan grabs the books and arranged them on his arms. “Are you free though? I kinda don’t have much friends. No one to spend “free period” with.” He folds his two fingers at the words “free period”._

_'Cute.', Dokyeom thought._

__

__

_“Sure! I am free. I don’t have any classes till 5PM.”_

_“Ahh that’s great! Milk tea?”_

_Dokyeom wiggles his eyebrows at Jeonghan. “Why do I feel like we’re best friends already? Milk tea it is!” He grabs his stuff from the bench and walks with Jeonghan to the nearest milk tea shop._

“Earth to Dokyeom.” Jeonghan waves his hand in front of his face. “I asked what you want for dinner.”

Dokyeom thinks for a while. “Hmmm, how about marinated chicken?”

“Again?! Kyeom, is there anything you eat besides marinated chicken?”

“Yeah.” Jeonghan raises his eyebrow at him. “Fried chicken?”

Dokyeom ducks as a notebook flies towards him. “Ouch Han!! What was that for??” He asks with a frown but was tempted to laugh at Jeonghan’s furious face. He looks adorable like that, annoyed at his antics.

“Jeonghannie... Smile for me, Jeonghannie.” Jeonghan is fuming, his nose flaring. “Fine! Let’s get pasta.” Dokyeom says, defeated.

Jeonghan stops squinting at him, smiles, and grabs his phone to order pasta from his favorite Italian restaurant.

_'Too adorable.'_ he thought. _'If I have to eat pasta everyday just to see him smile like this, I probably would.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend advised me to combine what I originally wrote as Chapter 3 and 4 into one chapter. This might have been longer. And I would probably write in the same format for the next ones. Comments and suggestions on improvement would be very much appreciated! Thank you so much!


	3. Chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who dropped kudos! ❤️  
> Hope you all enjoy reading!

It’s a bit more crowded tonight than it usually is. Word spread so fast. In a matter of four days, they were able to fill this abandoned space with twice the usual number of people. A rematch between two of the best fighters in the underground would be the only event that could attract this much people.

Jeonghan feels uneasy. He’s in the front row, as usual, with his banner. But the crowd is going wild. Woozi and Dino goes around collecting bets for Seungcheol. Those are not their real names though, kind of their stage names. Seungcheol has one too when he’s running the underground - he’s known as Scoups. This trio knows what they’re doing, running an underground business like this.

He spots Dokyeom on his corner, slowly unraveling the bandages on his wrist, a frown on his sharp features. _‘Is he nervous about this? He never gets nervous.’_ Jeonghan thinks for a while, he seems to be really anxious. _‘I feel like something bad’s gonna happen.’_

Without thinking, he leaves his spot and heads for Dokyeom’s corner, only to get blocked by Kim Mingyu and his friends going over to his corner on the opposite side of the crowd. He’s smirking again, catching Jeonghan’s attention. 

“Going somewhere?” he doesn’t wait for an answer. “I’m Mingyu, by the way.”

“I know.” Jeonghan walks past him straight to Dokyeom’s corner, earning “Oooohs” from Mingyu’s friends. _‘I hate his guts.’_

“Jeonghan, what are you doing here? You’ll lose your spot!”

“It’s fine, I’ll just yell at them to move later.” he waves his hands. “Are you okay? You look nervous. Is something wrong?” his brows furrow in worry.

“Nervous? Jeonghan, you know me better than anyone!”

“Yeah, I do. I just -- hey, listen... Don’t get hurt okay? I feel like something bad’s gonna happen. Just be careful.”

Jeonghan’s remarks must have made Dokyeom even more worried as his frown deepens. He regrets saying what he said, especially because the match is about to start. Scoups takes the center of the ring and starts announcing details of tonight’s fight.

“Han, you have to go back. I’ll be fine, don’t worry okay?” Dokyeom pats Jeonghan’s arm to ease him. “I can’t have you get hurt too, the crowd will go crazier once we go in. Go now.”

He hesitates but he knows Dokyeom is right, so he heads to his previous spot thankfully still reserved for him.

Scoups starts getting everyone even more hyped by saying this is the first and might be the only rematch they will ever see Kim Mingyu take part in, encouraging everyone to put in their bets on their star players. After a few more minutes of egging them, Woozi and Dino gives Scoups a thumbs up, signalling him to start the entrance.

Kim Mingyu looks different tonight, Jeonghan notes. He looks like he’s ready to win this fight, stretching his arms, eyes focused on DK’s corner. Mingyu notices him looking and turns his head, giving him another smirk, this time with a single eyebrow raised. He doesn’t know whether to feel provoked, flattered or scared. He turns his head to Scoups so fast, he thought he might have whiplash.

_‘What were you doing, Hannie? You were staring. Stop staring. Stop thinking about Kim Mingyu.’_

*****

DK’s entrance got the crowd in total chaos. Excitement and energy filling the entire space. His opponent’s dangerous eyes were focused on him. Mingyu doesn’t hide his smirk and gets himself in a fighting position, ready to hit as soon as it starts.

The horn sounds and Mingyu throws his first punch straight to DK’s right cheek unexpectedly. DK takes the blow but reciprocates one to his left jaw. They were both overwhelmed with their first throws, both taking a step back, defense quickly back in front of their faces.

He knows DK is waiting for him to throw another one. He usually does and wants the fight to finish fast. But not this time, he is determined to win. Besides, he can’t get any serious visible injuries, else Jisoo will kick him out of the house.

DK seems to realize what he’s trying to do, so he takes a step forward landing a kick on Mingyu’s left rib. It was a good hit, he admits. DK’s legs were solid and stable, that he noted since their first fight months ago. The guy’s thighs were strong, locked his hips during their first fight, delivered a series of punches to his face till he taps out of the match. Of course he lost, he didn’t care. Now he does.

He retaliates with a kick to DK’s right rib followed by a jab to his left jaw then right. DK’s defense was strong though his offense sure stirred the crowd into a cheering mess. 

**“You got this, Kyeom. Fight back! Fight back!”** Mingyu hears the angel.

This seems to get DK pumped up, as he delivered another kick to Mingyu’s right twice, but Mingyu was prepared and was able to avoid the hits. _‘Ahhh, I told you.. I’ll make you my lucky charm, angel.’_ his thoughts delivered a dangerous smile on his lips. He was about to deliver another blow to his opponent’s face, but the bell rings signalling the end of the first round.

Mingyu goes to his corner, chest heaving. He feels good, feels like he has the upperhand in this fight. His friend hands him a water bottle, but he declines it, feeling like he would be washing away his determination if he takes a gulp. He turns to look at the angel and was surprised to see him fuming with anger, eyes locked in the middle of the ring to no one in particular.

 _‘Will you look at that?! What could possibly have made this angel turn into a furious snapping rabbit?!’_ Mingyu smiles at the thought.

The sound of the bells snapped him out of his thoughts, making him turn his head to his opponent who seems to be as furious as the rabbit. _‘Well, to hell it is.’_ He bumps his fists together as he makes his way back to the center of the ring. Scoups blows the horn, start of round two.

*****

Jeonghan was livid. He can’t help but feel anxious about the fight. _‘What was that kick for?!’_ his nose flaring at the thought. Of course Dokyeom will get hit, ugh what was he thinking? _'But Dokyeom never gets hit that hard! He always has the upperhand in fights.'_ He was staring so intensely at the center of the ring that his head started to hurt.

The bell rings annoyingly followed by the sound of the horn. Both of the fighters hesitates moving to the center, seeming to calculate the each others’ next move. Dokyeom makes the first hit, lifting his right fist to meet Mingyu’s left eye. The crowd makes the loudest noise as Dokyeom’s move seem to have caused a small cut on Mingyu’s brow bone. Mingyu was about to retaliate when the crowd starts to riot.

It was too loud. There was noise everywhere: people scrambling on their feet to get out of the venue, cheering from people who were oblivious to the real situation, people around him asking what was happening. Jeonghan was able to make out the police siren that seems to come from the main road as it seems to get louder and nearer the abandoned building.

Panic ensues and Jeonghan was trapped in a crowd of people trying to get out of the packed place as soon as possible. He tries to look for Dokyeom in the crowd, worried he might be held back in the center of the ring. Scoups takes the microphone to make announcements on where the nearest exits were, but was soon cut off as the mic gets dragged by the people who are now running.

It was almost like a stampede. Jeonghan was glued in his spot, trying to look for Dokyeom. He doesn’t want to leave this place alone. But he knows if he stays any longer, people will bump into him and he’ll get stomped on.  
He spots Dokyeom a minute later seemingly looking for him too. His best friend looks panicked and distraught. He was about to go to him, against the current of the crowd but an arm grabs him and pulls him out of the way.

“What do you think you’re doing?! You want to get squashed by panicked college students??” Kim Mingyu’s eyes were wide, arms still locking him in place, protecting him from the panicked crowd.

“Let me go!! I need to get to Dokyeom! He’s out there looking for me!” Jeonghan pushes Mingyu out of the way but the guy was too firm to budge. 

“He’ll be fine! He will get out of here on his own! We have to leave before the police reaches here!”

“No!! What - no!! Let me go to him!” But he can’t see Dokyeom anywhere. He lost him! _‘Fuck!!’_

“Come on!” Mingyu grabs his arm and yanks him to the nearest exit behind the building.

They were running towards the huge trees that were a fair distance from the abandoned building. They couldn’t hear any noises anymore, no more police siren or panicked crowds. They could hide there should there be police searching the perimeter. A few students ran this way too, though trying their hardest not to make any noise. They both stopped running when they finally reached a safe distance, Mingyu finally letting go of Jeonghan’s arm.

Jeonghan grabs his phone and tries to make a call to Dokyeom. _‘No network connection’_

“Fuck! Where are we even??” Jeonghan makes a few more attempts to call Dokyeom, but then gives up. The faint light from his phone illuminating the face of the person in front of him.

“You - you’re bleeding. Oh my god! Your face is covered in covered in blood, Mingyu!” Jeonghan was shaking, eyes wide looking at the unfazed person in front of him. Panicked, he removes his scarf and pats Mingyu’s face to clean the almost dried out blood.

“It’s fine - hey it’s fine.” Mingyu grabs his wrist gently. “It’s just a small cut here.” he points to his brow bone, cut becoming evident in the night light now that his vision got used to the darkness.

Jeonghan moves away realizing he was just inches from Mingyu’s face, handing him his scarf. “Here, use it. I - I don’t need it anyway. Besides, it’s cold and you’re wearing almost nothing.”

They hear something move nearby - something rustling, twigs breaking, sound of footsteps. Mingyu grabs Jeonghan and hides both of their bodies behind a huge tree, uncertain if it was just another student running away or if it was actually the police.  
Mingyu’s arms were around him and he couldn’t think straight. _‘What - why am I in this situation?! How does one actually end up in a situation like this?!’_

After a few minutes, Mingyu lets go of him and wow what luck ‘cause Jeonghan actually goes out of balance, trips and falls butt first on the ground. “Ooww! Fuck, come on!” he curses himself.

“Oh I’m sorry! Let me help you out!”

Jeonghan swats Mingyu’s open palm and stands on his own, limping a little. “I’m fine! I need to go! You need to go too! Bye!”

He starts walking back to the direction of the abandoned building when he feels a tug pulling his jacket. “Do you even know which way to go?” Mingyu smiles. _‘He actually fucking smiles?? In this situation he has the fucking energy to actually smile??'_ Jeonghan wanted to roll his eyes, but then he realized he doesn’t even know which way was going back.

“You don’t know which way, right?”

He doesn’t want to admit defeat, so he doesn’t say anything. He squints at Mingyu, crosses his arms, then looks away. Mingyu chuckles. _‘He chuckles?! He just fucking chuckled! I can’t believe!’_

“Well, which way then?!” Jeonghan asks, chin up, looking anywhere but Mingyu.

“Tell me your name first.”

“What?!”

“Your name.”

“I heard you!”

“You asked!”

“Why do you need my name?!”

“Why are you yelling?”

“Because!” Jeonghan stomps his feet like a child. “Because I want to get home! I’m tired! I ran all the way here! I don’t even run, but I did tonight and I totally drained my energy! I need to recharge!”

Mingyu chuckles again, seemingly enjoying Jeonghan whining and complaining. “What?! Let’s go! Please!”

“Okay.” Mingyu smiles to himself. Jeonghan wonders why but just follows the guy out of the woods. He didn’t even think about how this guy, his best friend’s mortal enemy, might actually harm him.

 _‘He seems to be nice… I guess… He saved me from the crowd, saved me from the police, saved me from the creepy noise. He wouldn’t actually bring me to a slaughter house to kill me and sell my organs?!’_ Jeonghan gasps. _‘Oh my god, what if I am being led to a trap?! Jeonghan, there is no fucking network here. You’re done… you are so done!’_ he starts to panic inside his mind. Imagining ways on how to avoid getting killed, where to run or how to deliver a kick as strong as Dokyeom’s.

“I can hear your brain screws working from here.”

“Huh?” Jeonghan shrieks. _‘Ah damn, perfect. You just showed your weakness to your possible murderer.’_

“I won’t kill you.” Mingyu chuckles again. He expertly leads the way till they can both see the main road.

Jeonghan’s phone beeps continuously. Finally there’s a single signal bar beside the network icon - a flood of messages seem to be coming in, including 37 missed calls all from Dokyeom.

**_“Han! Where are you?? Please call me back!!”_**

**_“Han! I am fucking worried!! PLEASE!”_**

**_“PLEASE CALL ME RIGHT NOW HAN! I AM LOSING MY MIND!”_**

**_“This is all my fault!! I WILL NEVER BRING YOU TO ANY OF MY FIGHTS EVER AGAIN!!”_**

**_“HAN! Just call me please??!”_**

**_“HAN! COME ON!”_**

Jeonghan speed dials Dokyeom and the call was answered almost instantly.

“YOON JEONGHAN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?? Are you fucking alright??” Dokyeom shouts the first few words, but his voice was shaking asking him if he was alright.

“Kyeom, I’m fine. I was looking for you. But the crowd… And I got pulled...”  
Jeonghan can hear Dokyeom release a long sigh of relief. “It’s okay Han, as long as you’re fine. Where are you? Do you need me to fetch you?”

He looks at Mingyu raising an eyebrow as if asking where they were. The guy only shrugs and continues walking towards the main road. He wants to kick him but thought against it as it might not be the best option he has right now.

“Ah no, it’s okay. I think I found my way already. I’ll be home in a while. You rest Kyeom, okay?”

“Han, I’m sorry I wasn’t there --”

Jeonghan cuts him off. “Hey it’s fine. We’re both fine. Just rest please. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” He was about to cancel the call when Dokyeom rushes a “Be safe.” before ending the call.

They finally reach the main road, where cars can be seen passing by occasionally. It’s late and cab’s gotta cost so much. But he doesn’t have a choice right now. He opens the taxi app and sends his location.

 ** _“47$”_** How far are they from civilization actually?

“Hey, do you mind if I make a call to my friend. I actually don’t have my phone with me, you see.” Mingyu mutters, face still bloodied, dry due to the chilly night, and he doesn’t know how long they were actually out. His watch says it’s 12:39AM.

“Uhh, yeah sure. Here.” He hands his phone to Mingyu.

He watches him dial some number and rings it - one, two, three rings. No one picks up.

“Ah, nevermind that.” He frowns. “Hey, can I just get a cab to my place instead? I’ll pay him with cash.”

“Ah yeah, okay then. Wait for my cab to arrive, then I can book one for you.”

“Okay.” Mingyu looks at him, smiling. “Will you finally tell me your name?”

Jeonghan stomps his feet again, runs his hand through his hair seemingly annoyed, but answers him anyway. “Jeonghan.” he waits for the guy to respond, he gets a smile and a nod. “What do you even need it for?”

“I need to know the name of the person whose call I missed tonight.” Jeonghan’s eyes wanted to jump out of their sockets as he realized what Mingyu has just done.

“You scam!” he snaps at Mingyu kicking his left ankle, but the guy just stands there amused. “I’m not gonna book a cab for you! You - you stay here and get killed by some jeepers creepers!”

“Aw Han, don’t leave me here alone! Look at me! I’m cold!” Mingyu pouts.

 _‘Han? Did he just call me Han??’_ Jeonghan was fuming. “Aiishh!” He stomps his feet again.

Jeonghan’s cab arrives and he asks the driver to wait for a few minutes. He hesitates handing the phone to Mingyu, but the damage has been done, so he gives up and lets him book a cab. He takes the phone back and was about to get in the cab, but then decides to remove his jacket and hand it to Mingyu. “This is thanks for not killing me. And taking me back to civilization.”

Mingyu was confused for a moment, but then he probably realized that Jeonghan was being nice to him. He beams, teeth all out, canine showing _'Cute.'_ and mutters a thank you.

“Be safe.” Jeonghan says before closing the door of the cab. He sees Mingyu mutter something but he couldn’t hear it as the door was closed and the silence inside the cab welcomes his ears.

Damn, is he tired! He sighs and closes his eyes, a smile forming on his lips despite that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I am sorry for any mistakes. I hope I'm making the story a bit more interesting now! I don't know when my next update will be though.. hopefully soon!
> 
> -A❤️


	4. Past and Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took longer than expected. I had some stuff to do with our fanbase and also I had some problems posting this. Tech support didn't reply yet, but the issue seems to be solved since I was able to post this now.
> 
> But I assure you the next chapter will be posted faster.
> 
> Thank you for coming back for another chapter. And to all new readers, thank you for giving this fic a chance.

Dokyeom hesitates but does it anyway - landing a very dangerous hit at Mingyu’s exposed left eyebrow bone. He knew it would make a cut and take his opponent by surprise. His eyes were dangerously focused on the fight, he could not accept the fact that he almost lost the first round, if not for the bell. His opponent lifts his right fist but halts when there was a commotion in the crowd.

When he cranes his neck, everyone seems to be leaving their spots, some running towards the exit. He has no idea what was happening. He tries to spot Jeonghan amongst the crowd, but he seems to have lost his sense of direction. _‘Which side was Jeonghan even standing?!’_

The crowd seems to be in total chaos as most people realized what actually was going on. He still couldn’t figure it out. He makes his way through the crowd searching for Jeonghan. Scoups takes the mic to announce where the nearest exits were but was cut by the number of people going his way, dragging his mic with him.

“JEONGHAN! WHERE ARE YOU??” He shouts craning his neck, trying to look for him. “JEONGHAN?!” But it was useless, the crowd was too loud, everyone shouting or yelling people to get out of their way. He hears it now, the faint sound of police car sirens seemingly getting louder.

 _‘Fuck!’_ He needs to get out of here but not without Jeonghan. He makes his way against the crowd to get to the makeshift lockers quickly. The crowd was thinning there since the exit was the other way. He puts on his sweat pants, grabs his jacket and phone, gym bag left behind, and starts his way back, dialling Jeonghan’s number. He hears the crowd go in even more havoc as the police seems to have stopped in front of the building by now.

He tries to go back in, but there’s no way he can spot Jeonghan in this mess. _‘Jeonghan, please be okay. Please be okay.’_ He scans the crowd but no sign of a baby blue sweater amongst the crowd of dark colored clothing. Bumping into the crowd, searching desperately for his best friend - he really needs to leave else he’ll be in even more trouble if he gets arrested.

He starts running to an entryway only Scoups and the fighters know, a window blocked by a thin plywood that will lead to an emergency ladder, down to the woods behind the building. He reaches there and finds the window already open, ladder hanging. _‘Someone must have left the building through here.’_ He hurries his way down the ladder, jumping from the last step two feet above the ground. He runs, not to the direction of the woods but to the small shed nearby, easing his way in hiding behind shelves of forgotten tools.

He grabs his phone again, dials Jeonghan’s number, but it cannot be reached. “DAMNIT YOON JEONGHAN!”, he kicks the stool in front of him and plops down on the floor of the shed, head between his palms. “This is all my fault.” his mind is in a mess, his body hurts, his head aches.

He tries to call Jeonghan’s phone again - still can’t be reached. He tries and tries until he realized that it was now quiet outside. He doesn’t know how much time has passed. He doesn’t even know if the place is clear. He pushes himself up and walks to the door, slowly making his way out, trying to be invisible just in case someone is still around. There was no one - the abandoned building and the surroundings totally silent.

Dokyeom zips his jacket and heads to his apartment, head still throbbing. His mind wanders the entire time, worry evident on his sharp features. _‘Where are you, Hannie?’_ He tries to call again, send multiple messages, no answers… no replies.

He lifts his head and found himself in front of Jeonghan’s apartment, his feet unconsciously leading him there. He knocks on the door, hoping for Jeonghan to be home, exhausted, asleep or phone battery empty.

Seungkwan answers the door, opening it wide enough for Dokyeom to step in. “Oh hyung, why are you here? Jeonghan hyung isn’t home yet.” his face shows confusion, noting that Dokyeom probably looked like shit.

“Are you sure? Can I check his room?” he doesn’t wait for an answer, he climbs up the stairs and finds Jeonghan’s room locked. His heart beats faster, even more worried than he was already. “He’s not answering my calls..”

“What happened, hyung?” Vernon comes out of the bigger room, confusion and worry painting his face.

Dokyeom tries to call again, phone still can’t be reached.

“It seems like he is looking for Jeonghan hyung, but he isn’t home yet.”

“Oh, is this about the mess from the abandoned building?” Vernon asks Dokyeom. Seungkwan’s eyes widen in surprise and curiosity too. “What mess?”

“Yeah.. we were together… but I was a bit of a distance away from him… and the crowd went crazy and… I couldn’t find him.” he sits on the steps, hands cradling his head. “I’m so worried.. What if something happened to him… it’s my fault…”

“Hyung..” Vernon and Seungkwan shares a glance “he’ll be alright. Maybe he just got tired on the way here and is resting somewhere.”

“Yeah, with an empty batt phone.” Seungkwan adds. “He’ll be here soon. Take a rest at the sofa first, I’ll get you a glass of water.”

“Thanks, Seungkwan.” Dokyeom mutters, he’s too tired to move, his head painfully adding to the misery.

 _‘Jeonghan, please. I can’t lose you too.’_ He rests his head against the railing and wills himself to close his eyes for a few moments, praying for his headache to go away.

*****

_There was a beeping noise when he woke up. He was sleeping on a light blue couch, his head on his father’s lap. This isn’t their home, he knows. Their couch was dark brown, made with kind of a leather material as his father requested. He remembers his mom being upset about it but ended up kissing his father’s cheek, giving in to the request. That was three years ago._

_It was a lovely family. He briefly remembers when he was two his father would carry him on his shoulders, his mom chasing them in their backyard. When he was three, his father would take him to the public playground to play with kids. When he was four, his father would fetch him from school and buy him ice cream, asking him to not tell mommy. When he was five, he got a huge birthday party surprise from his mom and dad, all his friends from school were invited. When he was six, they moved into a bigger home, and they had so much fun packing, unpacking and decorating the place._

_So much has changed in just three years. His father was getting eaten by stress at work, slowly detaching himself from their family. His mom wasn’t well at all - still isn’t. She’s sleeping in this weird hospital bed, with so many wires and monitors around her making these annoying beeping noises._

_His mom’s condition wasn’t getting better, his father looked like he didn’t want to be here but he had to. He doesn’t understand how his father could be this cold when once upon a time, this man loved this woman so much. Dokyeom sits up and his father looks at him, expressionless but looking tired._

_“Are you hungry?” his father asks. He shakes his head, rubbing his eyes._

_“I’ll be heading out in a while. I’ll buy some food and store it in the fridge before I leave. Your grandma and pa are on their way.”_

_“Where are you going, dad?” His father never answered._

_He never came back after he left that day. His mom died a week after that, he was left with his grandparents who gave him everything they thought he needed and supported him with all of his decisions. But he still felt like all of it wasn’t enough. He never understood why his father left him even after knowing his mom would be leaving them too. He never understood why after all those years, his father left them at their lowest, when his mom was struggling for life._

_He lacked guidance, he lacked understanding of the entire situation, he yearned for attention and acceptance. And maybe he will never understand. Maybe he will never feel like he was important enough, or he was cared for, or that he matters. That’s all thanks to his father._

 

_He tried to live his life positively but he was never content. He needed an avenue to channel all his anger and frustrations._

_Years later, he met Seungcheol. They were roommates during their first year in college. He started to hang out with his group, and found out more about them. Later on he learned that Seungcheol and his friends ran this underground fighting ring and he was automatically interested to participate._

_He wasn’t as good as he is now. Months and months of training led him to where he is. It wasn’t about the money, not at all. He had more than enough, having grandparents that were well off. Though it did give him some extra to spend on his wants._

_Rather, it felt liberating. All those pent up anger and frustration were slowly released out onto his opponents. Eventually, almost two years later, he was doing great and became the star player of their university. There he found the attention that he craved for. The years of neglect being hastily covered by cheers and roars of his schoolmates. It was enough, for now._

_Meeting Jeonghan was another thing too. Being his best friend was probably the best thing that has ever happened to him. It wasn’t like he was living a gloomy depressing life before he met him. But Jeonghan’s presence in his life was warm. He learned how to care as he was being cared for. He learned how to worry about someone else. He learned how to smile genuinely. He wasn’t lonely anymore. He was fine before, but he was way better being around Jeonghan._

_All these feelings and emotions that weren’t there before, it was suddenly very evident and he knew that if there was one person in his life who he never wants to see leaving, it would be Jeonghan. And before he knew it, he was already in love with his best friend._

*****

Dokyeom jolts awake as his phone rings, it didn’t even take a second for him to tap on that green icon.

“YOON JEONGHAN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?? Are you fucking alright??” he shouts, his voice shaking in both worry and relief.

“Kyeom, I’m fine. I was looking for you. But the crowd… And I got pulled...”

He sighs his relief as he gets confirmation that he is alright. _‘Got pulled?’_ he chose not to pry on it. For now.  
“It’s okay Han, as long as you’re fine. Where are you? Do you need me to fetch you?”

“Ah no, it’s okay. I think I found my way already. I’ll be home in a while. You rest Kyeom, okay?”

He was still worried, unsure what Jeonghan must’ve went through and why he’s calling just now. “Han, I’m sorry I wasn’t there --”

Jeonghan cuts him off instead. “Hey it’s fine. We’re both fine. Just rest please. See you tomorrow?”

He hesitates, he wanted to stay and see him just to be sure he’s really fine. But he thought against it. “Yeah, see you tomorrow… Be safe.” He hangs up the call and heads out to the cold night air, clutching his jacket tight.

_'You make me crazy, Yoon Jeonghan.’_

It was a long walk to his apartment even though he takes the exact same route every Saturday morning. His thoughts wander, exhaustion taking over his body, his steps are faltering. He doesn’t know how long he’s been walking but it felt like forever. The cold is biting his nape even with the jacket draped on his body.

He reaches his apartment after forever, he heads straight to his room and plops himself on his bed. His thoughts going on a swirling mess and he drifts off to sleep. He hopes he only dreams of good things.

*****

Jeonghan knocks and Soonyoung lets him in. “Hyung, you’re here so early.”

“Sorry Soonyoungie, I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

“No, no! I was already having my cereal, hyung. Come in.” he steps aside for Jeonghan to go in. “He usually comes down to meet you. Did you not message him?”

“His phone is switched off for some reason, so I had to come and check on him. He’s home right?”

Soonyoung chews on his cereal, swallows hurriedly just to answer Jeonghan. “Yes hyung, I heard him arrive at around one in the morning.”

 _‘1 AM? He wasn’t home when I called?’_ His brows furrowed in worry. “Ah, thanks Soonyoung. I’ll go check on him.” Soonyoung nods at him and goes back to chewing his cereal happily.

He knocks on the door, but hearing no response he turns the knob and lets himself in. Dokyeom was plopped on his bed, asleep. He was wearing what seems to be his clothes from last night. Jeonghan walks over to the window and moves the curtain to let in some light.

He was about to wake him up, but Jeonghan finds Dokyeom very much asleep and seems to be shivering. He places his hand on his forehead automatically, _‘Fever. Where the fuck have you been last night, Kyeom?’_

He runs down the steps quickly, straight to the kitchen. He’s been coming here when Dokyeom is unable to visit him, but not that often so he doesn’t know where the stuff are actually kept.

“Soonyoung, sorry to disturb you and your cereal again, but can you please tell me where I can find a basin?”

Soonyoung raises his left eyebrow curiously, “It’s in the laundry room, hyung. The blue one is Dokyeom’s. What do you need it for, though?”

“He’s down with a fever.” Soonyoung's slanted eyes widen in surprise. “Can you please inform that he can’t come to class today?”

“Ahhh, yes I will let them know…” He pauses for a while. “Dokyeom never gets sick.. We’ve been housemates for years and he never got sick.”

“Yeah. I don’t know why too.” Jeonghan takes the basin to the freezer, and fills half of it with ice and water. “I’ll go back to his room now, Soonyoung. I will probably stay back for a while and look after him, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course hyung.” he gives him a thumbs up. “Hope he gets better.”

Jeonghan gives Soonyoung a smile and carries the basin to Dokyeom’s room. He takes a small towel from the drawer and dips it in the cold water. Wrings it and wipes Dokyeom’s forehead with it. Dokyeom doesn’t move, doesn’t seem to feel his presence even, he’s still shivering from his fever.

He sets the basin aside and takes an extra blanket from the cupboard. He moves to take a shirt from the wardrobe and changes Dokyeom’s jacket, with great difficulty, that seems to be drenched in cold sweat.

He sits on the edge of the bed, sighing with worry. His phone beeps a moment later.

“ **1 New Message”** _‘From an unknown number?’_ forgetting about last night, he taps it open.

  _**“Good morning, Han. ( ・ᴗ・)ノ”** _

_**“Who is this?”** _

_**“Tall, dark and handsome young guy you left in the wilderness last night. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧”** _

_‘Oh God, why?’_ Jeonghan ignores the reply and proceeds to bring the basin to the sink. He frowns at the thought. _‘Kim Mingyu… What does this guy even want?’_ His heart betraying him though, as it seems to beat faster against his chest. _‘Yoon Jeonghan, no! You shouldn’t!’_

He sighs as he pours the now warm water down the bathroom sink. Dokyeom stirs in his sleep, muttering something. He leaves the basin and rushes to the bedroom.

_“Jeonghan, don’t leave.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit dragging due to it just being Dokyeom's POV at the beginning and a little bit of continuation at the end. Probably rushed to finish it too so I can post an update. Sorry about that. It's been a week and I really needed to post an update somehow. But I will assure you the next chapter will be longer and more interesting.
> 
> I didn't have time to focus on the fic this week due to 2018 MAMA Voting. I am an admin of a fanbase so it was quite hectic with the updates and tutorials so yeah. Please vote for Seventeen on MAMA, Starple, and K-Pop Starpic.
> 
> I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter, and also hope you keep reading and anticipate the next chapter. Thank you!
> 
> PS. Special thanks to Kei for always helping me out with this fic.❤️


	5. Coincidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I don't know why but I was able to write the next chapter faster this time. But I always seem to be short for words, I'm sorry this chapter isn't longer as promised.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you still find this fic interesting enough to continue reading. Thank you for coming back to read. And for new readers, thank you for giving this fic a chance! Enjoy reading!

Mingyu jolts awake, pillow was thrown at his face with such strong force that he felt his soul leave his body for a second. A figure was standing, looming over his bed. He knew that shadow so well, he knew he was done, he knew he was gonna be homeless in the next five minutes.

He grunts, and buries his face in the mess of blankets and pillows. “Hyung, it’s too early. Please let me sleep some more.”

“When I said a cut on your lip, Mingyu, I didn’t tell you to get a cut on your eyebrow instead!” Jisoo’s voice was full of anger.

“Hyung I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt at all. I just need more sleep.” He hides his face even more, scared of looking at his brother.

“I know about the commotion last night, Gyu! It’s all over the local news! I told you to stop fighting! What if something happened to you last night?!!”

He doesn’t answer. He knew the mess last night was as serious as it can be. He heard a few of the students were caught and had to be escorted to the nearest station for questioning. Scoups, Woozi and Dino has decided to lie low for sometime as the police seems to be looking for the unnamed trio.

“I know hyung. I am sorry. And just to let you know, I won’t be fighting anymore.. For now.”

“What do you mean for now?? You won’t be fighting! EVER! AGAIN! No excuses Mingyu or else I’ll seriously throw you out of this apartment, or worse escort you to the police station myself!” Jisoo stomps his way out of his room and slams the door shut.

Mingyu forces himself up, sleepiness leaving his system as his brother just yelled at him too early in the morning.

“Ugh!!” he kicks his blankets off his legs, like a child not wanting to go to kindergarten. He retrieves his phone from under his bed, and checks the time 9:26AM. “Seriously??”

He scrolls through his messages, SNS notifications and missed calls. Messages from Seungcheol asking him if he got home safe, messages from Hao who heard about the commotion last night, missed calls from the bookstore owner asking him if he’s coming today, and a single missed call from an unknown number.

 _‘Ahhh… there’s at least something good about today.’_ He smirks and saves the number before typing a message.

 ** _“Good morning, Han. ( ・ᴗ・)ノ”_** he giggles while typing. _‘Oh my, Kim Mingyu. **face palms himself in his mind** You sound like a teenage girl texting their crush for the first time!’_ He taps send with so much enthusiasm his phone almost fell off his hand.

A message comes in not long after. **_“Who is this?”_ **

Kim Mingyu giggles even more. He doesn’t care, he types his reply excitedly, anticipating the other’s reaction. **_“Tall, dark and handsome young guy you left in the wilderness last night. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧”_** He taps send, this time with less force.

Mingyu’s feet was bouncing with too much excitement, staring at the screen like Santa’s gonna pop out of it and give him Christmas presents.

Five minutes later, no reply came. He hesitates against the idea of messaging him again, but his heart takes a leap of faith and types in another message. **_“Hey, thanks for lending me your jacket. I just wanted to return it to you. Would you be free tomorrow?”_ **

Still no reply. He sighs and gets up to go shower. Drowning his thoughts in warm water, his mind challenges him to think about Jeonghan. _‘How is it that you’re so difficult, Jeonghan?’_ He’s never had problems of this kind. At his university, girls and guys would approach him, ask for his number, ask him out for dates, and he almost always gives in ‘cause it’s always fun to meet new people, and of course to get free food and stuff. And the only guy he’s actually interested in, for the first time after ages, rejects his advances.

It never crossed his mind until now though, _‘Who is Dokyeom to Jeonghan?’_ Maybe he is the one who’s holding Jeonghan back. _‘Is he the boyfriend? It doesn’t seem like he is.’_

Mingyu turns the tap and steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. He looks at himself in the mirror, tracing the small cut on his eyebrows and a new faint bruise on his left chin. His phone beeps and the screen lights up.

 **_“1 New Message”_ **must be someone from his school, or worse, the bookstore owner again. He doesn’t want to open it, not wanting to get in trouble by having to be a witness or something. Or to go to work after a long tiring night. Ignoring the message, he goes back to his room to get dressed.

“Today’s gonna be a long day, Mingyu.” he tells himself with a sigh.

 

*****

 

_Mingyu approaches him, fists ready to hit if he comes any closer. He backs away a little, afraid of the blow he is about to receive. He tries and gives his opponent a kick to the left rib but Mingyu was to quick to evade it. He is fast. He tries to hit him from an angle that seems to not cover his face, but he gets blocked, instead he receives a powerful blow on his right cheek. Staggering backwards, everything around him seems to blur and he sees people running in all directions. He sees fire, he sees people pushing others, he hears police siren, he hears a firetruck, he hears the beeping of a monitor, his father shouting at him, his mother shouting at his father, he hears a group of people cheering his name. There is so much going on, what is happening? Lost in the middle of the mess, he is seemingly getting smaller, while the crowd around him grows more violent and chaotic and bigger._

_From afar, he spots Jeonghan getting pulled by someone with force, but Jeonghan doesn’t resist instead he holds the stranger’s hand and goes with him, both of them running away from him._

_“JEONGHAN!!” he calls out, but his voice was drowned by the noise of the crowd. He gets smaller and smaller, he can’t see Jeonghan anymore. “JEONGHAN! NO!! NO!! DON’T GO!!” He feels something hot on his cheeks, his own tears betraying his voice, he’s lost and alone. “Jeonghan, don’t leave.”_

_He mutters something else, but even he can’t hear his own voice. Everything around him seems to swirl and he feels himself disappearing, dropping from somewhere to nowhere._

 

*****

 

Dokyeom feels a hand tapping his cheek lightly. “Kyeom, wake up.”

Jeonghan’s eyes were wide and it seems he’s trying to wake him up. “Jeonghan, what are you doing here?” he  feels weak and cold.

“You’re sick. Don’t try to get up.” Jeonghan stands up and turns to go to the bathroom. “And you seem to be having a bad dream.”

His brows furrow, he doesn’t remember much of his dream. He just remembers a stranger pulling Jeonghan. And Jeonghan going with that stranger. “How long have you been here? What time is it?”

Jeonghan comes back with a wet towel in one hand, “Just about an hour. You weren’t answering my calls so I went to check on you. You were supposed to be in class thirty minutes ago. But I asked Soonyoung to let them know you’re sick.”

Exhaustion takes over his body, now that he is conscious of his fever. His eyes wanted to close and his mind wants to drift back to sleep, but he wills himself to stay awake. “What happened to you last night, Han? Where were you?”

“Let’s talk about that next time.” He feels the towel pressed cold against his forehead. “I’ll go make you something to eat.” Jeonghan smiles at him while patting the towel that’s placed on his forehead.

“Hmmmmm.” he can only hum. He feels too tired, his eyes stinging. Jeonghan gets up and makes his way out the door, gently closing it behind him.

 

*****

 

There’s nothing much in the fridge aside from orange juice packs, a jug of milk, energy drinks and bags of frozen chicken nuggets. “What the hell do they eat around here? Minghao would fucking disapprove of this.” he mutters to himself. _'Though Seungkwan and Vernon would definitely agree with the chicken nuggets and orange juice packs.'_ thinking about their own fridge having bags of frozen chicken nuggets too, though Minghao thankfully fills it with healthy food choices.

He fills a glass of water, goes back to Dokyeom's room and leaves it on the bedside table with two tablets of Panadol. Dokyeom's bundled under his blanket and seems to be dozing off again.

He checks his phone for the time and there’s one new unread message. _‘Probably from that guy again.’_

**_“Hey, thanks for lending me your jacket. I just wanted to return it to you. Would you be free tomorrow?”_ **

**_“How about today? I’m on my way to the grocery store at seventeenth street. Pass it to me, don’t mind washing it. I’ll do it.”_ **Better be done with it early so he won’t have to endure Kim Mingyu pestering him everyday to meet just for a jacket. He pockets his phone and steps out of the apartment, making sure to take Dokyeom’s keys with him.

There are two nearby universities in the area and it is usually crowded, especially on weekends. Not much people were walking around today. Students most probably are in their classes, bored listening to their professors talking mostly about nonsense stuff that doesn’t even get absorbed by at least half the class. Thankfully Jeonghan doesn’t have Thursday classes.

It was cold even with the sun shining brightly. Seventeenth street was just a few blocks away, about eight minutes walk from Dokyeom’s apartment. When he reaches the street he heads to the store, picks up a basket and heads his way towards the poultry section, grabbing chicken then to the vegetable section grabbing leeks, ginger and other stuff to make some good chicken porridge for Dokyeom.

Poring over what fruits to buy, he spots someone familiar on his periphery. Tall, dark and handsome young guy, of course. Mingyu didn’t seem to notice him, carrying a box of cereal, looking at the different kinds of berries. Jeonghan's jacket was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s my jacket?” he says out of nowhere, sending Mingyu’s box of cereal flying. Mingyu was clutching his chest, clearly shocked with Jeonghan’s sudden appearance.

“Jeonghan?!” Mingyu’s eyes widen, composing himself, fixing his expression and his sweater, ignoring the box of cereal on the floor as if it wasn’t his and as if he didn’t send it flying just a moment ago. He clears his throat. Kim Mingyu was trying to look cool.

Jeonghan giggles. “I said where is my jacket?”

“What? I didn’t bring it! I asked you if you’re free tomorrow though?” Mingyu smiles sheepishly.

“And I replied and said I’m free right now and to come meet me at the grocery store in seventeenth street.” eyebrow raised.

“Oh.. I - You replied?” confused, he took his phone from his back pocket and scowls at his phone screen. Jeonghan laughs at his expression, shaking his head. “You fucking did. How - sorry, I just assumed you wouldn’t reply so I didn’t check.”

“You sure you didn’t ignore it on purpose?” Jeonghan teases him.

“What - No! I didn’t!” Mingyu smirks. _‘Oh such a flirt.’_ “That means I have to meet you again to pass it to you.” he raises both of his eyebrows with a teasing grin.

“Aaahhh forget it!” Jeonghan waves his free hand in front of Mingyu, making the guy’s grin disappear. “I have tons of jackets. You can keep it.” he starts to walk away.

He feels a pull tugging his sweater, turns around and sees Mingyu smirking. “I have tons of jackets too. I can’t keep one more.”

“Then throw it. Donate it. Or maybe burn it.”

Mingyu laughs at Jeonghan. _‘The fuck is he laughing at me for?’_

“Nah, let me return it to you. With some coffee too maybe, please?”

He hesitates, the guy seems nice but he’s Kyeom’s mortal enemy. He couldn’t be going out for coffee with his best friend’s enemy, right? _‘But they’re just enemies in underground fights. Maybe they can be friends despite that? Besides, there will be no more underground fights for a while. Ah! Yoon Jeonghan! What are you thinking?? Are you seriously considering this??’_

He picks up the box of cereal, hands it over to Mingyu and walks away leaving an unanswered question. Mingyu doesn’t say anything though, he just stands there box of cereal back in his hand.

 

When he got back at Dokyeom’s apartment, he finds Soonyoung with a friend lounging on the couch TV remote control in one hand. “Oh hyung, you went out?”

“Yeah, I had to go get groceries. You don’t have anything in your fridge, I need to feed Dokyeom something warm.” he smiles at Soonyoung and immediately recognizes the person sitting beside him. “Woozi, right?” he addresses the guy.

“You know him?” Soonyoung’s surprised look was adorable. Woozi looks at back him confused then something seems to light up in his mind, he smiles. “Hey, aren’t you DK’s friend, or something?”

“Yeah. He’s sick right now, thus…” he motions to the groceries. “Glad you’re alright though. Is Dino and Scoups okay?”

“Yeah, they’re alright. Hopefully no one spills anything.” Woozi turns his attention back to the TV show.

“Hyung, how do you two know each other?” Soonyoung asks Jeonghan, body twisting, his eyes following Jeonghan to the kitchen.

Jeonghan was unsure how to respond, he doesn’t know how much Soonyoung knows about Woozi and what they actually are, considering the shorter guy is from another college. He shrugs, “He knows Dokyeom.”

Soonyoung turns to face Woozi. “You know Dokyeom? For how long now?”

“For three years now? I think?” Woozi stares at nothing particularly, trying to mentally count the years since he met Dokyeom through Seungcheol. “Oh is Dokyeom your current housemate? I only met him through my cousin, Seungcheol. They were roommates during their first year in uni.”

“Oh you and Seungcheol are cousins? I didn’t know that.” Jeonghan answers, making Soonyoung even more confused, probably at how Jeonghan seems to know more about Woozi's cousin than he does.

“Then how come I only met you recently??!” Soonyoung pouts cutely. “I could have been your boyfriend for two years now!”

Jeonghan laughs as Woozi pushes Soonyoung’s face away from him in annoyance, though he can see a smile forming underneath the facade.

It was noon, and he still has so much to prepare. Dokyeom’s probably hungry. He looks around, unsure where to start. “Soonyoung, I don’t know which ones are yours, can I use just anything in the kitchen? I’ll wash them after.”

“Of course, hyung! No worries!” comes Soonyoung muffled response as Woozi’s trying to suffocate him with a pillow.

It took him an hour to finish cooking, Woozi seems to be asleep on the couch, head on Soonyoung’s lap. The TV seems to be playing some reality show where celebrities take turns in guessing songs. Jeonghan slowly makes his way to Dokyeom’s room to check on him.

Blanket was on the floor, the sheets still a mess. Dokyeom was not in bed. He panics for a moment, before realizing the door to the bathroom was closed. “Kyeom…” he knocks. “Are you alright? You need help with anything?”

Dokyeom comes out minutes later, showered and dressed but still looking pale.

“Hey, why did you take a shower? You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I feel really sticky, I had to. I feel better, thanks for the Panadol.”

Crossed arms, brows furrowed, Jeonghan stares at Dokyeom in annoyance. “You’re not supposed to be moving around! You should be resting!”

“Han, I’m fine. I’m starving though.. I smell chicken.”

“You wait here, I’ll bring you food, I just finished cooking.” he turns to leave the room, Dokyeom trailing him.

“No, I’m going down. I want to eat properly, I’m really starving.” Cold eyes stared back at Dokyeom, and he pauses in response. “Come on, Jeonghan. I’m just sick, I am not disabled. I can walk and move my hands! See!” Dokyeom starts to wiggle his limbs stupidly.

Defeated, Jeonghan rolls his eyes and turns around and heads out the door without another word.

“Oh, we have a visitor.”

“Yeah, Woozi is here.” Jeonghan replies softly.

“Woozi? What is Woozi doing here?” Soonyoung hushes Dokyeom. “..and on Soonyoung’s lap?” he continues softly. Staring at Woozi then back to Soonyoung then back to Woozi then to Jeonghan. They both ignored Dokyeom’s question.

“Soonyoung, both of you can get some of this okay? Once Woozi wakes up… I made quite a lot…” Jeonghan says, stirring his chicken porridge and putting some on two bowls. Soonyoung mouths a thank you paired with a blinding smile and crescent eyes.

Dokyeom looked so confused he seems to forget about his hunger and fever. He gives Jeonghan a questioning look seemingly asking _‘What the hell did I miss in just a few hours???!!’_ He just waves him off and places the bowl in front of his best friend.

“Just eat.” he mouths. They both started eating without much conversation as Woozi seems to be sleeping contently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I somehow realized while reading a bit of the previous chapters that I really suck at writing. It seems like a screenplay to me, but like a really bad screenplay. Sighs... I don't know if writing is for me. But I will try my best to come up with better future chapters and try to improve my writing along the way.
> 
> Sorry for any mistakes. And again, thank you for giving this fic a chance.
> 
> Vote for SEVENTEEN on 2018 MAMA, Starple and KPop Starpic! Thank you!


	6. Believe

Fridays were supposed to be fun for Kim Mingyu. He goes to his only class at seven in the morning, sit and pretend to listen for two hours, then go home and lounge all day. At night he would meet up with his friends, drinks and dancing, a little bit of flirting here and there. But today is not such of a good Friday for him.

Cleaning week at the bookstore was always hell. He tried to avoid doing shifts during weeks like this, but he wasn’t so lucky this time as the bookstore owner threatened to replace him if he doesn’t come for at least two shifts this week.

Being the tallest one, he’s usually tasked to dust the shelves from top to bottom. And he hates it so bad, caz who would love to have dust raining on them all day?

The small bell by the door rings as Mingyu enters the bookstore, startling the store owner. “Oh Mingyu! You finally came eh?”

“I’m really sorry I was caught up with school works.” he bows slightly.

The bookstore owner only hums and walks over behind the counter seemingly looking for something. “I thought you were just trying to avoid my son.” She hands him a small box. Confused, he is unsure whether to take it or not. “Wonwoo left this asking me to pass it to you. It’s yours.”

He accepts the box hesitantly and keeps it in his bag. “Wonwoo was here? Since when? How long?” He’ll open it later when Mrs Jeon isn’t looking.

“Just for thanksgiving dinner, two days one night.” she goes back to stocking the newly arrived books in the display shelf. “He left yesterday just before lunch.”

“Oh, I wish I knew. He didn’t message me.” Mingyu looks at his feet.

“He thought he could surprise you but you didn’t come. I told him you were busy with school stuff and said he didn’t want to disturb you. You know how Wonwoo is when it comes to school stuff.”

Mingyu only nods. _‘Of course.’_ He goes to the back of the store, leaves his backpack on the staff’s station and puts on his apron. “What do you need me to do today?” he picks up the rags and duster from the pile and approaches the last shelf by the door.

“Oh no dear.. No cleaning today, Mingyu. Wonwoo did it already. You just have to man the counter today since the new guy can’t come work. I will also be out in a few hours ‘cause I have some errands to attend to.”

Stunned, Mingyu just looks at the owner and mutters something that sounded like ‘okay’ but he isn’t sure. “Go leave those at the back. Help me out with this for a while, then go get the cash register settled.” He complies.

Being the only bookstore that was in close proximity to both universities, it was always busy throughout the whole day. But it wasn’t that busy today, to be honest. Or maybe Mingyu just didn’t notice, because his mind seems to be distracted by the box that’s safely kept in his backpack.

As soon as the customer left, he went to the staff's station to take his backpack, taking out his packed lunch and the small box. He contemplates before shaking it once and trying to guess what’s inside. He eventually opens it and a smile automatically forms on his lips. It was a bracelet, a very simple one - a thin black leather string with a small flat circle tied in the middle. _‘Believe’_ was engraved in black ink. He takes it out of the box and wears it on his left wrist. “Perfect.”

Mingyu continues on his day with a smile on his face, unsure why he still smiles at the thought of his ex boyfriend. It was good while it lasted. He met him at the bookstore a year before he started college, ended up applying for the vacancy because he wanted to get to know the guy with cute glasses, reading by the bookstore window every morning, more. He needed the job too since he needed the money, so it was a win-win situation for him.

They worked together in the bookstore, got to know each other better, fell in love, stayed together. Wonwoo was a nice person, silent but funny at very unexpected times, a very good student but still as fun as he can be; and Mingyu loves all that about him. It was smooth and simple, until they needed to part ways for college.

Wonwoo decided to study at some prestigious university four hours away from home, and Mingyu decides to stay with his brother ‘cause he can’t afford to go far. The first time Kim Mingyu fell for someone, the first time Kim Mingyu got his heart broken. Mingyu never regrets falling in love with Jeon Wonwoo. The odds were just against them. But it was filled with good memories. He smiles at his thoughts again.

His phone beeps and vibrates on his ass. He wonders who would message him and interrupt his thoughts.

 **_“1 New Message”_ ** he unlocks his phone in one swipe. **_“Jeonghan_ ** **_”_ **

Mingyu came back to earth the moment he read the name, hands automatically shaking, sending the phone falling to the ground. _‘What the fuck Kim Mingyu?! Smoooooth.’_

**_“Hey Mingyu, will you be able to give me my jacket back on Monday? I kinda need it.”_ **

He panics. _‘He fucking saved my number??!’_ What the fuck is he panicking for, to be honest? He doesn’t fucking know. It’s just that Jeonghan makes him feel weird things, like all fluttery things, butterflies and whatever the fuck’s happening inside his chest and tummy. He thinks for a moment before typing.

 **_“Hey Han, sure. Monday sounds good. You okay at 4PM?”_ **he fucking giggles. Like. A. Teenage. Girl.

**_“Okay, Monday at 4PM. See you. Thanks!”_ **

**_“And how about coffee on the Carat Cafe at thirteenth street?”_ **

**_“Uh, I am not sure. We’ll see.”_ **

**_“Okay, great!_ ** **o(^▽^)o** **_”_ **

Mingyu pockets his phone and continues to have the best Friday of his life.

 

*****

 

Jeonghan woke up with a jolt, his eyes wide and cold sweat forming on his forehead. He just had the weirdest dream ever… he dreamt of Kim Mingyu. They were running off to somewhere, hand in hand. He doesn’t remember the rest of the dream, just that he remembers taking Mingyu’s hand and runs away with him. “So fucking weird.”

It’s already one in the afternoon. _‘Damn, it’s this late?’_ He picks up his phone and checks his SNS notifications. Seungkwan posted photos of him and Vernon, and of Vernon’s shadow as a background for his pink drink. They went to a chic cafe by thirteenth street. _‘Cute.’_ Jeonghan smiles. He’s fond of those two, always fun to watch their love-hate relationship at home with Seungkwan always being a diva and Vernon always whining, but both would later on just laugh like there’s no tomorrow.

Dokyeom tweeted something about finding and taking home a stray puppy last night, and decided to bring it to a shelter this morning. Jeonghan smiles. His best friend loves dogs.

Soonyoung tweeted a video of him bothering Woozi while the latter plays a game on his phone, Woozi then pushes Soonyoung’s face away from him in annoyance while Soonyoung just laughs at his boyfriend’s mood. Jeonghan laughs too. _‘Ah these two!’_

Minghao posted a very cool shot of him wearing a loose Balenciaga top paired with light blue denim jeans, seems to be taken from a wine bar. Hao loves fashion and photography, that he noted because of his Instagram posts. He swipes through a series of photos of wine and bar decorations. The seventh photo takes him by surprise. It was of a very handsome man, in a plain white shirt and a plaid beige coat over it, smiling at the camera with a dreamy boyfriend look. _‘Kim Mingyu, damn.’_

He remembers his dream again. As much as he wants to deny it, he can’t stop thinking about Kim Mingyu. That guy is so attractive and he seems to be attracted to Jeonghan too for some reason. Well, Jeonghan can’t really blame him. He knows he’s attractive too. He’s kinda used to this kind of attention, to be honest.

Despite his long hair, both guys and girls are attracted to him. Having people go after him, ask him out and stuff. But they all get scared ‘cause of Dokyeom being around him all the time. It’s not like Dokyeom scares them intentionally, it just seems like they don’t want to mess with the number one underground fighter’s best friend. Unless they want to have to glue their bones back together.

Jeonghan doesn’t mind, he loves the attention but he doesn’t like to be bothered to actually go out of his way and date this people. It’s a waste of energy. He likes it this way. He’s currently not attracted to anyone anyway.

Well no, actually he was kind of attracted to Choi Seungcheol before. The first time he saw him was when he went to support Dokyeom in one of his fights. Seungcheol introduced himself as Scoups, the host of the underground fights, his voice was raspy, dark and ~~kind of~~ totally sexy. With jet black hair, dark eyes with long lashes, jeans hugging his thighs so well, white shirt with a C on the left of his chest. Hot damn! The one-sided attraction only lasted for while though, just until he found out Scoups’ was as straight as a ruler. _‘Oh well! There are some things we can’t have, Jeonghan.’_

Kim Mingyu is a different case. For the first time, he admits that Mingyu was too attractive, totally agreeing to his tastes. Tall, tanned, built and handsome, YES. When he wasn’t too busy cheering for Dokyeom, he would take a look at the opponent’s dangerous but sexy eyes, he always seems to be smirking, with those cute canine teeth showing. His body was just the right amount of muscle, not too overwhelming. When those two eyes looked at him straight in the eyes while picking up his banner from the floor, Jeonghan was floored instead.

He was usually confident around people, but he also literally lost himself for a while back at the woods when they were hiding from the police. Then the grocery store coincidence was also one thing. Kim Mingyu was dangerous in the ring, but cute and clumsy outside the ring.

He thinks for a while, smiles at his thoughts and decides there is no harm trying to get to know someone. A new friend maybe. Eventually they will have to meet, so Jeonghan closes his Instagram app where Kim Mingyu’s face was still displayed and taps the envelope icon. He scrolls and looks for an unknown number, taps it and types a message.

_‘Just try and be casual, Jeonghan. It’s just a message.’_

**_“Hey Mingyu, will you be able to give me my jacket back on Monday? I kinda need it.”_ **His heart was beating so fast while typing it. He panics and sends the message without re-reading. “I kinda need it?? What the fuck do you need a jacket for Jeonghan?? You told him you have tons of jackets. Lame excuse! Lame excuse!” he covers his face with his pillow, trying to shield himself from a world of total humiliation and awkwardness.

Two minutes later, his phone beeps.

**_“Hey Han, sure. Monday sounds good. You okay at 4PM?”_ **

_‘Asdfhdjflkjdfjasfsjdaskjfh!!! He calls me Han again. Whyyyyy is it making me weak?’_

**_“Okay, Monday at 4PM. See you. Thanks!”_ **

_‘Jeonghan, you’re good at this. Appearing calm while you’re actually a giggly mess.’_

**_“And how about coffee on the Carat Cafe at thirteenth street?”_ **

He screams internally, his face scrunching up and his cheeks turning tomato red. _‘You’re overreacting, Yoon Jeonghan.’_

**_“Uh, I am not sure. We’ll see.”_ **

“Pretend to act uninterested and coy. Yes, that’s how you do it.” Jeonghan pats himself.

 **_“Okay, great!_ ** **o(^▽^)o** **_”_ **

He rolls on his bed some more suppressing his urge to scream out of excitement. Ah, finally he feels free. It has been days since he started denying his attraction to this guy. Well, he’s still gonna deny he’s interested just for the sake of acting coy and/or cool, depending on the situation, in front of Mingyu. He has a mission, and he hopes it will get him the results he want.

He gets up to shower and get ready for his afternoon classes today. He grabs Dokyeom’s book, one that he forgot to bring back with him last Saturday, and his apartment keys and heads out of the door. He started his day right, this will probably be a great Friday.

 

*****

 

Dokyeom was feeling better the next day and decided to go to his classes. Soonyoung was already eating his cereal when he came down.

“Hey DK, yo! Good morning man!” Soonyoung talks in an exaggerated manner.

“You’re in such a good mood Soonyoung.” he laughs “Where’s Woozi?” he takes his own bowl and fills half with cereal, half with milk, just the way he likes it.

Soonyoung looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Didn’t he stay over last night?” he raises his eyebrow.

His flushed hamster cheeks betrayed him. “Ye - Yeaah.. He did. I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind. He left early this morning not wanting to inconvenience you.”

“Aish, how can he inconvenience me?? He’s been my friend for years!” Dokyeom waves Soonyoung off and begins eating his cereal. “How did you two meet?”

“Ah.. at the cafe I work at. He always comes to taro buy bubble tea. I thought he was cute..”

“How long have you two been together?”

Soonyoung seems to be unbothered by Dokyeom’s questions and excitedly shared details to him about Woozi. “I remember meeting him a year ago, but we only started talking six months ago, and started dating about a month now… It was recently his birthday!” he added with his blinding smile.

“Oh really? Aahhh I forgot! 22nd right?” Dokyeom comments, Soonyoung nods with a smile on his face. He’s happy for his friend. “What did I miss in class yesterday?”

“Not much. Same old boring lectures you can actually read on the book. He’s so useless, you know? He’s like a storyteller instead of a teacher. Opens his book and reads the lecture. Like I can’t read??”

Dokyeom agrees to that. He hates his Thursday classes anyway. Fridays were a bit better, he has classes with Soonyoung too so they usually leave the apartment together to head to school.

It was starting to get cold, November’s almost over. As the wind blowing starts to get freezing, he stops by a coffee shop to get his coffee. He sees the person he least expected to see - Kim Mingyu.

As he approached the counter, Mingyu already moved to the side to wait for his coffee. There wasn’t much people in the coffee shop, so he was able to quickly make his usual order and had no choice but to move to the waiting corner.

Dokyeom pretends to not notice his underground mortal enemy, but life must be so challenging. Mingyu notices him and oddly, he smiles. “Hey, Dokyeom right? Or should I call you DK?” Mingyu gives his right hand for Dokyeom to shake.

Caught off guard with the friendliness of this very vicious opponent, Dokyeom just stares at Mingyu and at his outstretched hand for a few seconds. Mingyu notes his hesitance and almost withdrew his hand, but Dokyeom makes a last minute decision to take his hand and shake it once firmly. “Dokyeom. I only use DK underground.” Mingyu moves to take his coffee and turns back at Dokyeom, “Well. See you around.” He smiles at him again, nodding once and leaving the coffee shop.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Mingyu was a nice dude after all. Maybe his competitive side got ahead of him, thinking that this guy is his mortal enemy in the underground, and he doesn’t know what biased impression he has of the guy. Besides, they might be no more fights anytime soon anyway. Maybe it’s good to have new friends. _‘No harm, right?’_

He takes his coffee and heads out, proceeding the cold walk to his university. Checking the time, it’s 9:18 AM - not a bad start to his Friday. _‘Well, today seems like it’s gonna be a good day.’_

Almost done with his coffee, Dokyeom walks to the nearest bin to throw his cup. He spots a poor puppy by the corner of the street. It seems to be cold and hungry, must have been abandoned. He picks it up. "What are you doing out here, Coco?" He calls it Coco since its fur is chocolate brown and very fluffy. He walks the opposite way, ditches his class and brings Coco over to the shelter. "How I wish I can keep you." he coos at the dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update after a few days!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who came back to continue reading. And for new readers, thanks for giving this fic a chance. I'm sorry if it's not that good. This is my first time to write. Hope to update the next chapter soon. I haven't started on it yet. I feel like I get lamer instead of actually improving. T_T


	7. Coffee and Conversations

The weekend went by in a blur and Mingyu was feeling all giddy with excitement and nervousness as he gets ready for his classes on Monday. He picks a beige sweater over a white shirt and a pair of dark ripped jeans, a sacrifice to the gods on a cold Monday just to look good for his coffee date later.

He hates the fact that it’s a long day before it ticks four in the afternoon, but he didn’t have a choice. His Monday classes are a hassle, starting at nine in the morning which ends at eleven. And the second and last one is at one in the afternoon till three thirty. He could have scheduled to meet Jeonghan at lunch but he doesn’t want limited time with him, thus he scheduled it at four.

The walk to the university was pure torture with the wind blowing against his exposed thighs and knees, freezing his legs. He decided to leave his motorcycle at home since he thought it would be less cold to walk rather than have wind blowing over his entire body while he drives. Hell, he was wrong. It took longer, thus making him feel like a cold burrito being defrosted as soon as he steps in the comfort of the hall’s heaters.

Woozi seems to be busy talking over the phone with someone, walking towards the gate of the school. He spots Mingyu, smiles at him and gives him a thumbs up. Mingyu smiles back at him and proceeds to his first class in a very good mood, despite the cold wind that bit his entire being just this morning.

The day went by so slow. Of course it would. Isn’t that a cliché, when you’re excited for something at the end of the day, your day would go by slowly. Then when you’re enjoying the moment, it will go by so fast and before you know it, it’s already over. Mingyu hopes it wouldn’t be like that with Jeonghan later today.

He meets his best friend for lunch at this Italian restaurant Minghao fancies. Usually, Minghao pays for it since he has the money, and also since he's the one who always invites Mingyu to places like this. The guy is filthy rich, with parents sending him monthly allowance from China. Minghao wanted to pursue his passion for photography and fashion, and Korea seemed like a good choice. Thus his supportive parents sent him here to study and do whatever he likes.

“Stop taking photos of me, Hao.” Mingyu covers his face with his right hand, blocking Minghao’s camera. Minghao giggles. “Why are you all dressed up fancy during the cold weather anyway? Wear something thick Gyu!” he checks his phone for the photos and laughs at Mingyu’s candid shot.

“As if you’re not dressing fancy everyday?!” he shoots Minghao a challenging look.

“Hey at least I am all bundled up and not wearing ripped jeans!” Minghao teases, he saves the photos, making a mental note to post them later tonight. “So, who are you trying to look cute for?”

Mingyu squints at his best friend, but then gives up as Minghao gives him a more intense stare behind his round glasses. “I have a coffee date.” he sighs.

Minghao giggles again. “What?”

“I said I have a date. After our next class.”

“Who though?” Minghao asks, finally believing his friend. “You never dress up for dates, man. Unless you like that person.”

Mingyu flashes him the most blinding smile, and Minghao literally covers his eyes. “Damn Gyu, who is this person?”

“This is like the fourth time we see each other, I think? I met him at one of my underground fights. He cheers for the enemy.”

“Damn those underground fights, Gyu. Of all places, that’s where you find the person you like? And all the more, he’s from another school. Are you crazy?”

Minghao never went to any of his fights. He definitely hates it, the scene, the violence, the fact that it’s basically illegal betting and all that. But he lets his friend fight because he apparently needs the money. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t lecture him for weeks about it, he did. Mingyu is just too stubborn for easy money, so he lets it go. Just as long as he himself doesn’t get involved in anything related to it. And just as long as his best friend comes back in one piece, he lets it slide.

“Maybe I am, Hao. I never felt butterflies in my stomach since…” he fiddles with the string on his wrist.

Bread crumbs land on his jacket. “Gyu, damn, stop being sappy.”

“Shut up. Just because you can’t talk to that handsome guy at the Chinese restaurant doesn’t mean…” he couldn’t continue talking after seeing a whole bun thrown at his face. “Hao, fuck! Nooo! My look!” he whines, dusting his jacket, getting rid of the bread crumbs. “YAH! XU MINGHAO!”

 

*****

 

Usually, his lazy ass won’t let him get out of bed unless he really needs to. But today, Jeonghan wakes up too early for his own time. He heads to the shower humming, making sure to knock at Minghao’s door to know he isn’t home or does not need to use the bathroom. After receiving no response, he sways his way in and gets ready for his day. _‘Damn Jeonghan. You’re in a good mood today.’_

Jeonghan chooses a thick and warm light grey sweater over a long sleeved white button up shirt, and jeans. He puts on a little bit of makeup and styles his hair - well not much styling done. He just had to blow dry it the way he wants it, but that takes time.

The cold doesn’t bother him. He hops his way to university, almost bouncing happily at the excitement he feels. Though he feels nervous to be honest. He has never been on dates before. Even though he didn’t say yes to the coffee yet, he knows he will give in eventually. He just doesn’t want to seem too eager.

Dokyeom eyes him weirdly as he takes the seat beside his best friend. “What’s up with you?”

“Huh? Nothing.” he hides his smile and shrugs.

“Han, I know you. Come on, tell me.” Dokyeom encourages, raising his eyebrows.

Jeonghan was about to say he’s going to meet someone, but the teacher arrives and hushes the class, stopping him from saying anything to Dokyeom. He thinks if he should actually tell Dokyeom full details, specifically who he’s meeting. _‘I mean, we’ll just meet and talk over coffee. No, actually I’m just going to take my jacket back.’_ But then it complicates the situation more ‘cause then he’ll have to explain how Mingyu has his jacket.

After their class, Jeonghan was a bit troubled as to how he can tell Dokyeom he’s not walking home with him. He knows he’s gonna get interrogated and worse, might even accompany him to the coffee shop. It’s not like he’s trying to hide the fact that he’ll be meeting someone over coffee, but the fact that it’s Kim Mingyu might strike a bad chord with Dokyeom. He actually didn’t really think about this dilemma when he was getting ready for his date this morning. He sighs, thinking of excuses when he starts shoving his stuff inside his bag.

His worries were washed away in an instant after Dokyeom approaches him first. “Han, I’m not gonna be able to walk with you home. I’m gonna go to the dog shelter and check out on Coco.” he smiles his brightest smile at Jeonghan. “I know you don’t like dogs that much, so I didn’t invite you to go with me. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I’m actually going somewhere too.” he tries to act casual so Dokyeom won’t catch him trying to hide something.

“Oh you are? Where?”

“Just meeting someone over coffee.” Jeonghan smiles at him.

“Is it someone I know?” Dokyeom seems to frown at the thought of Jeonghan not mentioning anyone to him.

“Ah I don’t think so. I’m just gonna go take something from him. It’s not like a date or something.” he tenses at his own words. Leave it to Jeonghan to make things worse. _‘You fucked it up Yoon Jeonghan!’_

Dokyeom seems to notice him tense up, but he doesn’t push him to reveal more. Jeonghan’s lucky to have a considerate best friend, else he’ll be fucked by his own tactless mouth. “Uhh, okay. Han, I really have to go, the store closes in an hour.” Dokyeom waves at him and leaves Jeonghan to sulk about his decision to lie to his best friend.

On his way to thirteenth street, he drops a text to Mingyu.

**_“Where should I meet you?”_ **

**_“I’m already at Carat Cafe. Ordered you a drink. ;)”_ **

_‘Huh, it won’t taste that good anymore. He doesn’t even know what I want.’_

**_“Uh, okay. I am on my way. Give me 10 minutes.”_ **

Fixing his hair before he enters the coffee shop, Jeonghan feels his nerves take over him. He was enveloped with warmth as soon as he opens the door, the smell of pastry and freshly brewed coffee wafting in the air. Looking around, he spots Mingyu coffee in one hand, staring out the window at nothing particularly. His drink is nowhere to be seen though. Approaching his table, he composes himself trying to act cool.

“Hey.” he mutters too softly, probably not loud enough for Mingyu to hear him. Mingyu notices him though, turns his head to smile at him. _‘Gorgeous man.’_

“Hey, Jeonghan.” he motions to stand up but Jeonghan waves him off and takes the seat opposite Mingyu to not make the guy stand.

“I thought you got me a drink.” he raises his eyebrow at him, teasing.

“I actually paid for a drink but I didn’t know what you wanted so I told Dino to prepare it when you get here.”

“Dino works here?” Jeonghan looks for the familiar face behind the counter. He spots him working at one of he machines, preparing coffee for the few customers who came in.

Mingyu nods as a response. “So what do you want to drink?”

He checks the menu. “You didn’t have to buy it for me, to be honest.”

“It’s okay. I have to thank you for helping me that night.”

“You helped me too. So you really didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted too.” He smiles at him again.

Jeonghan turns his head to look around the coffee shop, trying to hide the smile forming at his lips. It was really nice there, he figures this was where Vernon and Seungkwan went the other day. It had a homey feel, with different chairs, each a mismatch but kind of making the place look more aesthetic. The decors were a mix of pale pink and very light blue. The menu had quite a selection and Jeonghan was confused on which drink to actually get. He settles for the safest.

“I think iced americano would be fine, thank you.” he smiles at Mingyu.

 

*****

 

Mingyu walks to the counter and orders Jeonghan’s iced americano from Dino. “And also that strawberry cheesecake and blueberry muffin.”

“Two orders? And it’s cold. You don’t drink iced americano. Who are you with?” Dino asked inquisitively while writing Mingyu’s name on the cup.

“Just… a friend.”

Dino raised his eyebrow. “You hesitated.”

“Just go make my coffee.” Mingyu complains. Dino just eyes him and starts making coffee.

 _‘Can these people just let me live?’_ he sighs.

He stares at the back of Jeonghan’s figure while waiting for Dino to finish making it. The guy just sat there staring at something on his phone. After a few minutes, his shoulders are shaking. Probably laughing at something funny he found on SNS. How bad he wished he was watching him from a different angle.

Dino knocks the counter and waves his hand in front of Mingyu. “Dude. Your drink. Go!”

“Aish.” Mingyu snarls at him, grabs the tray and heads back to their table.

“I didn't know what you wanted to eat so I got cheesecake and a muffin.” Mingyu smiled sheepishly at Jeonghan and takes his seat.

“Thanks… I love strawberries, so I'm getting the cheesecake, I guess.” Jeonghan says, grabbing the plate.

Mingyu places the tray on the corner and starts on his blueberry muffin, smiling at particularly nothing.

“Ah, your jacket. Right.” He takes a paper bag from his backpack and hands it over to Jeonghan. “Wait. You're not gonna leave right after you take this right?” he hesitates.

“Are you kidding me? I can't run away with the cheesecake on a plate!” Jeonghan's eyes were wide, shining at his own joke. “You should've asked them to place it in a takeaway container, that could have made my life easier.”

Mingyu laughs in disbelief. “Wow, you are funny too! How can you get more perfect?”

Jeonghan obviously blushes at his comment. _'So adorable.’_ He seems to not be able to form a comeback at his comment so he mutters his reply softly. “Thanks. I try to be funny sometimes.”

They talked about anything mostly - from school, to likes and dislikes, to circle of friends and hobbies. “You're friends with Minghao, right?” Jeonghan asks then takes a sip of his iced americano.

“Yeah, he is my best friend.” Mingyu cocks his head to one side, curious as to where this is going. “Do you know him?”

“Ah, yeah… He is my housemate. We share the common bathroom.” he smiles at Mingyu. “I saw your photo on his Instagram once.”

To say Mingyu was shocked is an understatement. His best friend is actually five hundred steps ahead of him, living (and sharing a bathroom) with his… well, his... crush?, his person? Well, not quite yet. YET. He’ll get there.

 _‘Xu Minghao, that better be a good photo.’_ He also makes a mental note to check Minghao’s thousands of followers and look for Jeonghan’s account.

“Oh wow okay. I didn’t know that.” Mingyu gives Jeonghan a sheepish smile. “I wish I knew sooner. I could have been making excuses to visit Hao.”

Jeonghan laughs. “Well yeah, it’s odd. You say you’re best friends but I’ve never seen you visiting him. My best friend visits me so often. Our living arrangement is kinda cool, you know.”

 _‘Best friend.’_ Mingyu is now in a very conflicting stage on whether to pry more about the best friend or not. He decides he should. _‘Now or never, right?’_

“Oh. Who’s your best friend? Do I know him?” he looks at Jeonghan cautiously. “Maybe he’s my roommate too, you never know.”

 

*****

 

Jeonghan tenses at the question, quite not prepared on what to answer. To be honest, he doesn’t know why he can’t seem to put Mingyu and Dokyeom together in one basket. He feels like there’s something not quite right there, though he can’t figure what exactly it is.

“Ah, you know him, I guess.” Jeonghan hesitantly answers.

So far, he has been enjoying his chat with Mingyu. He definitely wants this, whatever this is, to continue. He’s quite smitten, to be honest and he can’t stop blushing, thankfully the cold drink and the cold weather helps cover it up.

Mingyu probably notes that Jeonghan is uncomfortable so he drops the topic. It’s already six in the evening and they never seem to run out of things to talk about. But Jeonghan doesn’t want to get too comfortable, or seem to be too comfortable. Though he thinks it’s too late for that now.

“Umm Mingyu… this has been nice, but I think I need to go.” Jeonghan makes a move to grab his bag and the paper bag. “Thank you for the coffee and cheesecake.”

“Yeah well… Will I see you again soon?” Mingyu asks.

He smiles at him and nods. “Yeah, maybe we’ll see each other soon. Come up with excuses now that I have this back.” he lifts the paper bag.

“Oh I have a new excuse, trust me. I just hope that person will allow me to make him as an excuse, though.”

Realizing what he meant, Jeonghan chuckles, his nose scrunching. “Well, I’ll make a move now.” he waves at him and takes his leave.

“Can I walk you home, though?” comes in Mingyu’s late reply.

He looks back at him and smiles. “Next time maybe.” and walks out of the cafe door, to the freezing cold of the evening.  _'I guess that went well.'_

Jeonghan makes it home a few minutes before 6:30PM. He finds Vernon and Seungkwan bickering in the kitchen again, Vernon trying to take a spoonful of whatever Seungkwan’s cooking, while Seungkwan hopelessly tries to shield it from Vernon.

“This is not yet cooked! Do you want to have food poisoning??” Seungkwan glares at him.

“But Boo.. It smells so good! I just want to know if it tastes the same as how it smells!” Vernon whines, feet stomping like a child.

“No Hansol Vernon Chwe!! Go wait! This will take another fifteen minutes!” He shoos Vernon out of the kitchen.

Vernon spots Jeonghan taking his shoes off, so he greets him enthusiastically. “Hey hyung! What’s up?” he flops on the couch and starts flipping through the channels.

“Hey. It’s cold outside. Don’t forget to bundle up if you’re going out.”

“Yes hyung.” comes Vernon’s reply, seemingly already distracted with some music show on the TV.

“Hyung, I’m cooking something. It’s my mom’s recipe! She thought me this when I visited her in Jeju last week.” Seungkwan butts in. “Come join us for dinner in a while!”

Jeonghan smiles at Seungkwan. He loves his housemates, he doesn’t have a single complaint about them. And this gesture is the nicest, he is grateful to have found better living arrangements than he could ever dream of. “Thanks Seungkwan! You two go ahead and eat without me. I’ll just bury myself with homeworks first, then maybe steal some of that goodness later.”

Seungkwan smiles at this and nods. “Sure hyung. Just take! I’ll leave the pot out here so you can heat it later.”

He waves at the two and proceeds to his room, a little bit exhausted but nonetheless happy about how his day went.

A notification flashes on his phone’s screen as soon as he took out his phone from his back pocket.

**_“Instagram: 1 New Follower Request.”_ **

He taps on the notification and the app opens to reveal another private profile.

 **_“@min9yu_k”_ ** he taps “Accept” and then “Follow Back”.  
Not long after, another notification pops up. **_“You are now following @min9yu_k.”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to have a pattern now. I update twice every week, for two consecutive days. Then don't post an update till a week later. Wow, okay I don't know how this happened, but yeah. I guess my next update will take a few days. Hope you'll still continue reading this. I honestly don't know how this goes, but we'll see. Thank you so much for being here!
> 
> PS: Don't forget to vote for SEVENTEEN on 2018 MAMA! Also, last day of voting on Starple today!


	8. Tension and Confrontation

Jeonghan was acting weird lately. It was so subtle and his best friend thought he could fool him. But having been the closest for a few years now, Dokyeom knows him so well. He is hiding something and he is not sure if he should ask Jeonghan or wait for the guy to tell him whatever it is. Hell, he isn’t even sure if he wanted to know, because Jeonghan never hides things from him. So if he is indeed hiding something, it might not be good.

They don’t walk back to the apartment together that much anymore. It used to be daily, but now it’s just mostly twice or thrice a week, each of them having their own excuses. Dokyeom being busy himself volunteering at the dog shelter, he didn’t seem to notice Jeonghan relaxing his shoulders every time he says he’s going to volunteer after class. He only started noticing it lately, when one time, he forgot his book on his desk, so he went back to the classroom hearing Jeonghan release a long sigh of relief. He didn’t want to feel hurt, ‘cause he doesn’t even know the reason why Jeonghan would want to be alone after class, but it did sting a little. Good thing their Saturdays were still the same, except he would notice Jeonghan checking his phone more often than usual.

Christmas break came fast and his grandmother had asked him to not take the short trip to her place. Apparently she will be going on a vacation to visit some relatives overseas. Good for her, she gets to enjoy the holidays somewhere new. That means Dokyeom has to spend the holidays in the apartment, burying himself with a few homeworks and light reading. Jeonghan said he would be around too but that he has so much work to do. He didn’t want to bother his best friend, so he tried to keep himself busy and distracted.

Though it bothers him so much. _‘It’s been a few weeks. What has changed?’_

He thinks for a while and decides to go to the bookstore to get some material for his research. Stepping out into the now very cold winter air, Dokyeom wraps his arms around himself, making his way to the street.

There was a tiny bell sound as Dokyeom pushes the door open. A guy with an expressionless face suddenly smiles at him when he spots Dokyeom entering the store. He gives the guy a smile back. The guy seems to be reading, he kind of feels guilty disturbing him from his peaceful activity. He proceeds to move around the bookstore instead, looking for whatever might be helpful for him.

After scanning through the countless books, Dokyeom found two which he thinks would probably help his research. Taking them to the counter, he notices that the guy has started to eat. He hesitantly approached the guy, but he looks up and smiles at him again.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you were eating. I didn’t notice the time.” he spots two meals, but only one was touched. It confused him. The guy looked skinny, surely he doesn’t eat two meals in one sitting.

“No, it’s okay. I was supposed to eat with someone actually.” the guy gives him a sad smile. “But I guess he isn’t coming.” He grabs the books and scans them. His name is ‘Wonwoo’, as his tag says.

“Aw, his loss. The food looks good.” Dokyeom teases him, and found the guy’s amused expression looking at him.

Wonwoo laughs. “That’s 49.40 for these two.” he hands Dokyeom the bag, as he fishes out his card to pay. He taps it once and gives him the receipt. Dokyeom was about to turn around and leave when Wonwoo spoke. “Actually, the food is good.” he turns around and sees the guy handing him the container. “Please take it, I don’t want it to go to waste again.” There’s that sad smile again.

Not wanting to embarrass the guy, Dokyeom accepts it and flashes Wonwoo his brightest smile ever. “Thank you.. Wonwoo.”

“No worries.. Ummm..”

“It’s Dokyeom.” he stretches his free hand towards the guy.

The guy takes it and gave it one firm shake. “No worries, Dokyeom.” He goes back to the counter to continue with his book and his food. He wonders what exactly makes the guy give that sad smile. He has a faint idea, but he doesn’t have any business in the guy’s love life so he steps out into the cold again, carrying his books and the food container back to his apartment.

 

*****

 

To be honest, he didn’t expect things to go this well. With the underground fights temporarily suspended, he has so much time on his hands. Jisoo also wasn’t that uptight with him anymore, and that was more than enough for Mingyu to feel better. He also found another part time job, since he can’t have the money he used to earn in the underground.

Dino hooked him up with a few shifts at the Carat Cafe, and he cannot be more grateful. The pay was also better since it is a more established business than the family-owned bookstore. His shifts at the Jeon Bookstore were lesser too since he messaged Mrs Jeon about his new job. Being the supportive person that she is, she said it won’t be that busy anyway since it was the Christmas break and that she can work out a schedule.

Throwing a hoodie over his sweater, Mingyu leaves his brother’s apartment and walks to the cafe to start his shift. He hopes it won’t be that busy. Another guy would be working with him, and he has grown acquainted with everyone over the few weeks, considering his friendly and easygoing personality.

The cold starts to become unbearable, so he quickened his pace and almost half ran to the cafe. As soon as he reaches, he almost fell trying to quickly get in and feel the warmth of the walls. He looked stupid, but he ignored the snicker of the man behind the counter and went to leave his things behind.

Coming back with an apron over his sweater, Mingyu starts preparing the orders at the screen. Mingyu has always had interest in food and coffee, so it wasn’t a surprise he was good at his job. He learned a little on his own and would prepare meals for himself and his brother sometimes. But he still needed the official training given by the cafe before starting to work. He was really thankful because it was additional knowledge about something he always had an interest on.

“Hey Mingyu. Can you man the counter for a while? I just need to check on the stocks behind. Youngmin said there were some stuff that needs to be thrown away.” Dongho said.

“Yeah okay. It’s not that busy anyway.” he smiles at him as the guy makes his way to the back of the cafe.

Taking his position behind the counter, Mingyu starts cleaning the space around the register when the noise from the street enters the cafe briefly as the door was opened and closed. His angel was making his way towards him, wearing the sweetest smile.

“Hey, you’re behind the counter now?” Jeonghan asks him.

Mingyu is stupidly staring now, his smile never leaving his face. “Dongho had to check something at the back for a while.” punching Jeonghan’s order without even asking him, he takes the card and taps it once before giving it back to him. “You’re early today.”

“Vernon and Seungkwan was fighting this morning. I didn’t want to stay and listen in on them.”

Mingyu hums in response. “I’ll just go make your coffee.” he smiles at Jeonghan, while the latter bounced his way to the table that’s nearest to the counter.

It’s been two weeks since they’ve started seeing each other. Mingyu would sometimes fetch Jeonghan and they would go on very short dates around the area, considering their varying class schedules and that they go to different universities.

He wouldn’t want to put a label to it yet, since everything is relatively new. But Mingyu would like to think they are exclusively dating. Sometimes, he would try and hold his hand while walking back to Jeonghan’s apartment after hanging out in the cafe, but he always tries to avoid it by crossing his arms or something. But he’s patient. Because whatever this is, this is just going to go smoothly.

Jeonghan always comes to the cafe whenever he has shifts and whenever it doesn’t collide with his class schedule too. But since it’s the holidays, Jeonghan always comes to see him. It was like an unspoken arrangement, and Mingyu will never get used to seeing Jeonghan walk in the cafe, wind mildly blowing his long hair and his smile directed at him. This guy is just truly breathtaking.

He finishes making the coffee and instead of calling on Jeonghan, he steps away from the counter to approach the table. Jeonghan was now going over his notes, book open, pens out, looking like there’s so much work to do. It’s a relief the cafe wasn’t busy, at least he can go and have a short conversation with him.

“So much stuff to do?” Mingyu asks, startling Jeonghan.

“Ah… yeah… Even during the holidays, this one professor never fails to make students suffer.”

“What is it about? Can I help?”

“Ah… It’s this research class.. We have to find a topic that interests us and make a paper out of it.” Mingyu raises his eyebrow, it sounds easy. “With a twist. We have to relate it to economics.”

Okay, that makes Mingyu’s eyebrows furrow. “That sucks.”

“I know.” Jeonghan sighs dramatically.

“Do you have a topic in mind?”

“To be honest, I don’t have one yet. So I’m just going through our economics book now and just trying to pick out something that I can use to relate to real life. I’ll do it the other way around.”

The door to the cafe opens and a customer walks in. “I’ll be right back.” Mingyu smiles “Good luck with that.” Jeonghan smiles back at him while he rushes to go back at the counter, greeting the customer with so much energy.

 

*****

 

Jeonghan goes over his notes over and over again, still not able to find a suitable topic for his paper. He needs to start it as soon as possible else he won’t be able to finish it on time. _‘Ah it’s really difficult without Dokyeom around.’_ He doesn’t see his best friend that much anymore. The guy seems always busy volunteering at dog shelters, and he’s… well, he’s busy with the stuff he does and sometimes he finds time to hangout with Mingyu. He doesn’t actually know how long he can hide this from his best friend. Well, he’s not hiding it intentionally, but he just went with the flow and he feels like there is no need to declare it out of nowhere.

He contemplates on whether he needs to message Dokyeom. He’s worried he might be disturbing the guy too, but he needs help. Though they would be meeting on Saturday, it would still be four days from now and there’s so much he can do in four days.

Hesitantly, he grabs his phone and taps on Dokyeom’s number. His best friend picks it up after two rings.

“Hannie-yaaahhh.. I miss you. Why did you call?”

He misses his best friend too. “Kyeommie… do you have a topic for your econ research paper already?” he pouts even though his best friend couldn’t see it.

“Ah I think I have. I found books from the nearby bookstore earlier, you know that one with the red panel door? They have a good selection of topics and I found one after… like twenty minutes?” Dokyeom hesitates, not sure if twenty minutes is too short or too long. “There’s also this cute guy manning the counter. He gave me food.” he hears faint giggles.

“Yah! What if he added some love potion to your food?? You’re doomed!” No response came. Jeonghan can imagine Dokyeom’s wide eyes and mouth open in shock after maybe realizing this was possible. He chuckles at this. “I’m just kidding Kyeommie. Alright, I might just go check it out later. I’m still trying to find something in our econ books. It’s boring, I don’t know what to write about.”

“Are you outside right now?”

Jeonghan was caught off guard by the question. “Ah yeah, went to some cafe to get my daily dose of iced americano… you know.” he tries to sound casual. He hears Dokyeom hum in response so he quickly dismisses the call. “Anyway, Dokyeom-ah I miss you too. I’ll call you back to hang out this week okay?”

This seems to brighten his best friend’s mood as he hears him agree to it enthusiastically. He hangs up the call and sees Mingyu staring at him from the counter, seemingly curious about the phone conversation. He picks his stuff up and walks over to the confused man.

“Hey, you’re leaving?” Mingyu asks.

“Yeah I need to go to this bookstore… I really can’t find a topic and Do-” he tenses, name almost slipping. “...and my classmate said he found his topic after he searched for books there.”

“Oh, which bookstore?” Mingyu raises his eyebrow at him.

“The one with the red panel door. John Bookstore I think?”

“Jeon Bookstore you mean? I work there too, though I don't have shifts scheduled for this week.” Oh, this was news to Jeonghan. He never knew. “I can go with you. My shift ends in thirty minutes, if you don’t mind waiting.” Mingyu continues.

He checks his watch, not noticing how much time passed with him just stuck with his econ paper. Jeonghan nods, “Oh okay. Yeah, I’ll just go take my seat again.”

After thirty minutes, Mingyu approaches his table, and taps his shoulders. “Let’s go?” Mingyu offers his hand to take. He isn’t sure if he should take it, most of the time he avoids it, thinking it’s too awkward. He never dated before and he feels like holding hands is taking it too far, like having another silent agreement of exclusively dating or something. He sure likes the guy, but he is not sure how far he is willing to take this. He loves spending time with him but he’s just not sure just yet. But it won’t hurt, right? Just this one time?

Jeonghan smiles back at him and takes Mingyu’s hand. “Yeah, let’s go.” He’s just happy to spend more time with him.

 

*****

 

He’s still in disbelief. Walking to the bookstore seems to be too fast. It shouldn’t be fast, it should be slow. He should have more time to enjoy this moment - Jeonghan’s hand in his. It’s too unreal. He feels that Jeonghan is tense about this moment too though he is not sure why.

The hand feels warm and comfortable. But they both feel awkward about the situation, so he sighs trying to let go of the tension. Jeonghan seems to notice it, so he sighs too and laughs it off after. His heart swells at the scene.  Noting the other let loose, he laughs with him, gripping the soft hand in his tighter.

They reached the bookstore after a few minutes, with small talks in between. He didn’t want to let go of the hand, so he takes the lead to hold the door open with one and lead both of them in the store. There seems to be no one behind the counter. _‘Maybe Mrs Jeon is at the back of the store.’_

“Mrs Jeon, I’m here.” Mingyu declares a little bit louder so it can reach the back of the store. He hears footsteps seemingly in a rush and what he saw made his hand turn cold and the hair on his nape stand. “Wonwoo, what are you doing here?” Wonwoo’s smile obviously fades as he notices the hands clasped together. He doesn’t respond, he just stands there frozen, staring at the couple and Mingyu was unsure of what to do.

He feels Jeonghan’s hand slip from his, pretending to fix his bag on his shoulders and bows slightly to Wonwoo in greeting, but disappears behind the shelves to look for books. But Mingyu and Wonwoo were still staring at each other, frozen in place at the unexpected meet up.

Wonwoo turns to go back to the store room behind, and Mingyu follows. He is unsure why Wonwoo was acting this way, but he feels like he did something wrong. “Wonwoo, wait up. What’s wrong?”

“Is this why you don’t come to the bookstore anymore?” his back facing him.

Mingyu was confused with the question. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve waited for you for days. You never visited.” the voice was stern and cold.

“I didn’t even know you’re here. And Mrs Jeon -.”

Wonwoo turns his body to face him, interrupting his words, anger overwhelming his features. “Oh come on! It’s the holidays! You know I will be home! I don’t have to message you Gyu! Or maybe you just forgot about me?!”

He knows where the accusing tone is coming from, but what he doesn’t know is why. “I told your mom I won’t be coming ‘cause I got a job somewhere else. She knows!”

“But I don't! And is work the only reason for you to visit this place?!”

“Wonu, why are you upset? I told you I didn’t know!”

Wonwoo walks past him back to the counter but Mingyu grabs his wrist to stop him. He feels a leather string wrapped around his wrist. It’s the same one as his, with a flat round metal tied in between, the word ‘Believe’ engraved on it. Wonwoo pulls his wrist and walks to the counter, arranging the stuff around the register to distract himself from the awkward encounter.

Mingyu finds himself locked to the ground. He doesn’t quite get it. He moved on, and he always assumed Wonwoo did too. Besides, it was a mutual agreement to end the relationship, and also on a good note. And they both know they were still friends. Most friends don’t see each other often, or talk everyday, etc, but they still remain friends. So he doesn’t know where all the anger came from.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been standing there stuck with his thoughts, until he hears Jeonghan talk to Wonwoo. He walks back outside to stand beside Jeonghan, face still looking down and confused.

 

*****

 

“Just these?” the guy asks Jeonghan.

“Yes, thank you.” Jeonghan smiles back at him.

“That’s 39.23, do you need a bag?” his voice sounds strained.

“Ah, no need. It’s fine.” he hands his card to the guy and eyes his name tag. _‘Wonwoo’._

He accepts his card and receipt. “Thank you, Wonwoo.” the guy smiles back at him, ignoring Mingyu beside him. He grabs the book and heads out the door, Mingyu opening it for him to step out.

The walk to his apartment was mostly silent, aside from the random things that Mingyu points out throughout the walk, most probably just to fill the silent air around them.

Jeonghan’s mind was distracted at what just happened back at the bookstore, and his heart was feeling heavy at his suspicion. Though it was quite obvious, Wonwoo was Mingyu’s ex-boyfriend. Or maybe present boyfriend, but in a long distance relationship? And that means… Mingyu cheated? And, oh my god, realization hits him - Jeonghan is the other guy? What the actual fuck.

Of all times he accepted the guy’s hand, it was this time, this day, this moment, where they would meet the ex-boyfriend. Or boyfriend. Whatever. What he is sure of though is that the guy named Wonwoo is still in love with Mingyu. And Mingyu in turn seems to still be greatly affected by this Wonwoo guy.

He feels Mingyu’s stare and he turns back to look at him, with a pained expression.

“What’s wrong?” Mingyu asks.

 _‘What do you mean what’s wrong? You fucking made me look like a slut clinging to a tied person.’_ Though he’s not sure, he still worried about it a lot.

“Ah nothing. I was just… thinking.” he manages a casual but stupid reply.

“I’m sorry about what happened at the bookstore. It was unexpected and I didn’t mean to leave you looking around for your research topic alone.”

“It’s okay. I found a topic anyway.” he smiles at Mingyu, unsure if he should ask or not.

“Wonwoo’s my ex-boyfriend. We mutually ended it…” he sounds unsure about saying more, so Jeonghan just nods. “We’re still friends but I didn’t keep in touch, so I guess he was upset about that.”

_‘Ah, an ex. Wow, how cliche.’_

They finally reach his apartment, so he turns to wave at Mingyu. Unexpectedly, Mingyu stops him and holds both of his hands. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us, Han.”

He hears the sincerity and worry mixed in those words. Though Jeonghan was still unsure about where all of this will lead them, he finds himself nodding in agreement. “I’ll go in now, Gyu. You be safe on the way back.” he turns around and walks in the apartment, finally letting go of the breath he held the entire walk.

_‘This is fucked up.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect to be able to write this next chapter sooner. I seem to be inspired. Lol And considering this one is a little bit longer than the previous ones. But anyway, thank you for being here! I hope you enjoyed reading!
> 
> Though it was yesterday, but still... Happy Birthday to our VOBO, Woozi!


	9. Movie Night

Thursday movie night with Jeonghan and his friends was what Dokyeom was looking forward to. He passed by the grocery store to pick up some snacks and drinks. They weren’t going to a movie house, they will be watching in Jeonghan’s living room with Vernon, Seungkwan and, joining them for the first time, Minghao. He invited Soonyoung to join them too, but apparently it’s ‘date night’ tonight, so he just left the apartment.

Forgetting to grab a basket since he thought he won’t be buying much, Dokyeom was balancing so many bags of chips and chocolates on his left arm. Wanting to get more, he didn’t know where to place one more box of Jeonghan’s favorite chocolate, so he stupidly opened his mouth trying to fit it in to carry it, then he hears someone chuckle beside him. He flushed the brightest shade of pink at the embarrassing encounter.

“Won-woo?” he isn’t sure if he remembered the name correctly. The guy who was chuckling was now laughing holding his chest. He smiles at this and eventually laughs along with him.

“So - sorry. You really looked funny when you tried to carry the box with your mouth.” wiping tears from the corner of his eyes, he calms down. “Let me help you with that.” Wonwoo offers his basket which only has three cans of beer.

“Ah… I hope you don’t mind. I will just go grab a basket quickly and come back here.” he disappears to go to the entrance of the store and grabbed a basket. When he came back, Wonwoo was already checking the various snacks in the aisle.

“Here, let’s exchange.” Dokyeom grabs the cans of beer and placed it in the empty basket. “Drinking alone?”

Wonwoo nods at him with a sad smile. _‘There he goes again.’_

“How about you? Planning to go on junk food coma?”

“Ah no. My friends asked me to buy stuff for our movie night.” he lifts the basket as a gesture.

Wonwoo nods. “That sounds like fun.” The guy picked a few snacks.

“Hey why don’t you join us? There’s just like five of us there, you might even know the others. Do you go to the either of the schools around?”

“No, I go to a university four hours away from here. So I probably don’t know anyone.”

“Well then, that’s better! New friends! I swear they are the nicest people.”

Wonwoo seems to consider it for a while, but doesn’t give him a response.

“Ah I know. Sorry... This might sound creepy, caz it’s like our second time to meet each other and I’m dragging you with me. I didn’t realize.” Dokyeom apologizes with a sheepish smile thrown at Wonwoo.

“No, no. It’s alright. It honestly sounds like fun. But, I don’t want to betray my lonely three cans of beer. Might have a movie night of my own.” Wonwoo waves at him, smiling. “Next time though.”

“Yeah, next time… And thanks for the help.” Dokyeom waves at the guy before he disappeared to a corner heading to a different aisle.

He continues shopping for drinks, not forgetting to grab a small box of fresh strawberries for his best friend. He doesn’t see Wonwoo anymore after that. He leaves the grocery store, heading his way to Jeonghan’s apartment. Even though the air was freezing cold, Dokyeom’s heart felt warm with excitement, finally able to spend time with his best friend.

 

Knocking once, Seungkwan opens the door and Vernon runs to Dokyeom, helping him with the groceries. “Hyung, you bought too many snacks. You could’ve asked me to meet you halfway!” Vernon says.

“Ah, it’s okay. It’s only sometimes we hang out like this!” Dokyeom smiles at them while placing the drinks in the freezer.

“Cold night and you’re putting beer in the freezer?” Minghao walks in eyes squinting at them. He knows Minghao doesn’t drink anything cold. Also not a beer kind of guy, so everything must probably be a red flag to him right now.

“Ahh beer tastes better ice cold, hyung. Besides, movie nights are more fun with beer and snacks.” Seungkwan answers instead.

“Whatever.” Minghao rolls his eyes and sits on the couch to set the TV up.

“Kyeommie!” Jeonghan bounces down the stairs to the kitchen. “My strawberries?”

“It’s here, Han. Wash it first.”

Jeonghan turns into an eight-year old when it comes to strawberries and it’s the most adorable thing ever. He hums while washing the strawberries and grabbing a bowl and proceeds to remove the stem one by one.

“Hey, what movie do we watch?” Minghao shouts from the living room.

Seungkwan who was now done pouring chips into snack bowls, approached the Chinese guy. “How about a movie series so we can watch more than one?”

“Let’s watch Train to Busan.” Dokyeom suggests. All four pairs of eyes turn at his direction, squinting. “Wha - what did I say?”

“First of all, hyung, even if I am a scaredy cat, you’re probably the first one among the five of us to scream and run to Jeonghan-hyung’s room to hide. Second, I said movie series, and you suggested one movie.” Seungkwan answers him with a diva look in his eyes.

“How about the Bourne series?” Vernon answers.

“Born series? What’s that, we watch a bunch of babies being born for three whole movies?” Seungkwan teases his best friend.

“BOURNE not BORN!” Vernon replies back annoyed. “B-O-U-R-N-E. Aish.” Minghao types it and selects the first one to read the description.

“Hey this looks good to me.” Minghao said, as Jeonghan sits down on the couch, content with his bowl of fresh strawberries. Everyone else agrees with Vernon’s movie suggestion so they started the first movie in the series. Dokyeom sits on the floor, his back resting against the foot of the couch, legs stretching in comfort.

“Movie night!!” Vernon shouts excitedly, beer in one hand, a bar of chocolate in the other.

 

*****

 

Jeonghan was distracted the whole night and he feels guilty. He planned this movie night to spend time with his friends, but after what happened yesterday he sure as hell isn’t thinking straight. Mingyu messaged him when the guy got home, but he didn’t reply. He doesn’t know how to act around him. Sure, Mingyu said that that Wonwoo guy is an ex, but he saw the way the latter looked at Mingyu. There was something deeper and he didn’t want to get in the middle of that.

He was unconsciously playing with Dokyeom’s hair, and the guy doesn’t seem to mind. He’s used to Jeonghan’s attention and just continues watching the movie making side comments with Seungkwan, ignoring a pissed off Vernon and Minghao.

 

Jeonghan’s phone vibrates, and he isn’t surprised to see it’s from Mingyu.

**_“Hey Han, how are you? Pls don’t ignore me.”_ **

Biting his lower lip, he contemplates on whether it was necessary for him to reply. Before even deciding, another message comes in.

**_“Han, if this is about Wonwoo, pls believe me when I say we broke up. And we’re just friends. Please?”_ **

He withdraws his hand from Dokyeom’s hair and types a reply, unsure of what he really wants or what he really feels.

**_“Gyu,  I’m not avoiding you. I’m just hanging out with my friends. Sorry I didn’t reply.”_ **

**_“That’s a relief. :) Are you coming to my shift tomorrow?”_ **

**_“I’ll let you know.. Brb Gyu.”_ **

 

He puts his phone down, but Dokyeom was now eyeing him worried about the expression on his face.

“What’s wrong, Han?” he asks, his voice stern as if daring him to lie.

“It’s nothing.” he lies anyway. He can’t still seem to tell Dokyeom about Mingyu, and most especially not now after hiding it from him for weeks.

Dokyeom frowns at this, obviously upset, and turns his attention back to the movie. He’s unsure how to tell it to Dokyeom, or how to even start explaining everything or why he even decided to hide it from him.

 _‘You’re in a mess, Jeonghan.’_ He massages his temples, thinking of how stupid he was to make all the wrong decisions about this. He closes his eyes and wills himself to relax until he hears Seungkwan scream about a certain thrilling scene.

_‘So much for peace of mind.’_

 

*****

 

Jisoo was bringing friends over tonight, and as a favor for his brother, he’s assigned to cook a few dishes for their dinner. Keeping himself busy in the kitchen, he thought he could escape his frustrations. But his mind can’t quite relax knowing there’s something wrong about what happened yesterday.

It’s been 24 hours since he had spoken to Jeonghan, and that was only when he walked the guy home. After that, he hadn’t received any messages or calls and that is really unusual. They exchanged messages on a daily basis, not necessarily with long conversations but at least a greeting.

Although he knows it might have been quite a shock for Wonwoo and Jeonghan to meet in that manner, he believes he’s the one who was in for the biggest shock among the three of them. His mind was clouded with thoughts of Jeonghan’s hand in his that he forgot Wonwoo might possibly be working at the bookstore. Damn, he even forgot that the guy might be back for the holidays since he was spending so much time with Jeonghan these days.

Somehow Wonwoo was right about that. But he doesn’t know what was there to be upset about. He moved on, and of course Wonwoo might have moved on too. He doesn’t even know who Wonwoo is dating right now.

He continues to make excuses in his mind, avoiding the only explanation that could be plausible - Wonwoo is still in love with him. But it doesn’t make sense so he continues to push it behind him. Besides, he’s moved on and he’s sure he is in love with Jeonghan right now, the guy who makes his knees weak, his chest fuzzy and makes him get stomach butterflies every now and then.

 

He reaches for his phone to message Jeonghan.

 **_“Hey Han, how are you? Pls don’t ignore me.”_ ** He types his message and taps send. But he felt like it wasn’t enough and that he really had to somehow lead the conversation so that Jeonghan won’t pass it off like nothing, he sends another one hoping to get Jeonghan to open up to him about how he feels. **_“Han, if this is about Wonwoo, pls believe me when I say we broke up. And we’re just friends. Please?”_ **

He’s frustrated. He doesn’t know whether Jeonghan will reply to him, but after a minute, a message comes in. **_“Gyu,  I’m not avoiding you. I’m just hanging out with my friends. Sorry I didn’t reply.”_ **

Though unsure whether to believe the guy, he sighs a breath of relief at the reply. **_“That’s a relief. :) Are you coming to my shift tomorrow?”_ **

**_“I’ll let you know.. Brb Gyu.”_ **There it is. The cold reply he was dreading. But he thinks it was good enough that at least they got to talk.

 

He finishes up with the dishes just in time for Jisoo to walk in with some friends, one of them he right away recognizes. It was the owner of the Chinese restaurant Minghao always drags him to. He automatically makes the connection, this must be Jun, the one Jisoo is always talking about, forcing him to take shifts working there. _‘Oh Minghao, now I am ahead of you at something.’_

 

*****

To say Dokyeom is upset was an understatement. To be honest, he was furious. At least on his own. He tried his best to not show it to his friends since they were all trying to enjoy movie night. Halfway through the third movie, he felt Jeonghan’s hand pull back from playing with his hair, which he already found annoying. But then he turns around and see his best friend obviously in a dilemma, typing a reply to someone.

He hopes he’s wrong, but ideas came flooding into his mind about who it could possibly be and why Jeonghan looks like he is emotionally torn over something. The worst part is he doesn’t know what, who and why. He’s the best friend, he at least should know something. Is he not worth the share anymore?

It doesn’t even help the fact that he likes Jeonghan, so if it is a boyfriend, then fuck his life. Maybe he’s too damn slow and now it’s too late. Why did he even have to hide it all this time? Why didn’t he pursue Jeonghan as soon as he found out what he feels for him? Maybe he always thought he was secured, being the best friend and the constant companion. Hell he was wrong.

He thinks about the dog shelter. _‘What if I quit volunteering?’_ This might give him a chance to catch up on his best friend’s secret life, if he is indeed hiding a secret from him. He might do just that, making a mental note to inform Mrs Park about it.

He feels fingers on his temples, making gentle pressures to ease the crease on his forehead. He closes his eyes for a while, wanting to be selfish for a moment to enjoy the attention his best friend finally gives to him.

“Kyeom, are you alright? You seem to be in deep thought.”

He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t want to. Or maybe he doesn’t know how to. He just keeps his eyes shut, not wanting to face his best friend, who he’s sure is now looking intently at him from his right side.

He feels Jeonghan get up from the lounge and pull him up. Minghao, Vernon and Seungkwan looks up at them in curiosity on why they’re leaving when the fourth movie was just about to begin.

“Sorry, Dokyeom is having one of those very bad headaches.. I hope you don’t mind us turning in early for the night. I’m so sorry.” he hears Jeonghan tell the three.

Seungkwan’s face automatically turns into worry and answers Jeonghan on behalf of all of them. “Yah, hyung it’s okay. Go ahead, we don’t mind!”

“We’ll just lower the volume so Dokyeom hyung can rest.” Minghao adds.

“Goodnight hyungs.” Vernon waves them off as he lets Jeonghan drag him to his room.

 

Dokyeom doesn’t know if he should be thankful that Jeonghan dragged him to his bedroom. His head was aching too much and he didn’t even notice until Jeonghan pointed it out. His best friend knows him too well.

“You sleep on my bed, Kyeom. You need rest. I will sleep in the sofa bed this time.” Jeonghan says while fiddling with the straps of his foldable sofa bed.

He nods, thankful for the considerate gesture. But he remembers he’s still in his outdoor clothing, so he stands up to reach for his backpack that was placed near the door.

“Stay there. What do you need?” Jeonghan asks.

“I need to change, Han.” He mumbles.

“I’ll get your bag. Wait.” Jeonghan reaches for the bag and passes it to him. “You get changed. I’ll go get water and some Panadol for you to take.”

His best friend leaves him alone, so he stands to undress and put on his pajamas. Arranging his clothes neatly on the desk, he glances at Jeonghan’s phone which lit up. **_“2 New Messages.”_ **

Contemplating on whether to tap it open, Jeonghan suddenly comes back with a glass of water and some tablets. He moves away from the desk to take the medicine and flops himself on his best friend’s bed.

“Good night, Kyeommie. Feel better.” he hears Jeonghan say to him, before he hears the light switch off.

“Good night, Hannie.” He mumbles a reply.

Hoping to feel better, he tries to relax his mind to find something positive about today. He barely remembered about the guy he met at the grocery store. His mind was currently clouded with thoughts of whatever his best friend is hiding from him.

To be honest, he could have opened that message without hesitation. They often do that, they don’t mind checking each others’ SNS accounts, emails, etc. But there is something lately that stops him from doing so, and he thinks it’s because of how his best friend acts around him. He kind of feels guilty wanting to invade the privacy that once welcomed him. It just kind of felt like Jeonghan built up walls around him, though there is still an entry way, he still needs to knock to get permission to go in.

_‘It didn’t use to be like this.’_

It was fairly silent, and Dokyeom figures that maybe Jeonghan had fallen asleep. His head hurts even more after all those negative thoughts refuse to leave his mind. Now, his heart also stings. He feels his eyes get teary but he stifles his sobs so as not to wake his best friend up.

 

That night, he cries himself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished writing a very short Meanie/MinWon fic today! Please read it too if you have the time! Thanks!
> 
> Also, it would be greatly appreciated if you would leave me comments so that I can improve my writing. Thank you so so sooooo much! Hope to update the next chapter faster!


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